Here is one of the top storylines of all time - man versus nature. Where do we sit in the scheme of things? What is this thing we can’t control but arrogantly strive to control?
The Grey pits helpless, starved and frozen plane crash victims against a ravening wolf pack in the icy barrens where they meet the Arctic tree line. If the wolves don’t kill them, the climate will.
So when a small plane transporting pipeline workers crashes into the ice, the seven who escaped death will now have to survive a double whammy of frigid unforgiving nature and angry wolves ticked that aliens have landed in their territory. Suspension of disbelief alert. Apparently, wolves don’t attack humans unless they are provoked. Here the provocation is that the plane lands hard by the den. I dunno.
Liam Neeson is John, hired by the oil company to shoot wolves that enter the compound. He has two things in his favor – he knows wolves and their behaviors and he’s big with an alpha personality. But otherwise, he’s haunted and alone in the dark literally and figuratively; he has a perpetual sadness yet pulls it together to take charge.
The rest of the party is a rag tag assembly of oil workers – ex cons, drifters, and guys looking for big paydays away from regular society. And they’re as far away as it gets, in Alaska in winter, stuck in the icy wilderness.
John becomes leader of the human pack early and easily, thereby cutting off dissent. He oversees the unthinkable task of surviving as dead and dying bodies of their coworkers lay round them. They build fires and eat scraps from the plane’s wrecked kitchen, and take turns guarding their pathetic encampment from the wolves.
A wolf attacks and kills one of them in the night, and the next day, they gather up backpacks and head somewhere “out there”. The wolves follow - more wolves than they can count. It’s roughousers versus Mother Nature, and we know who’s boss.
The group dynamic is interesting; each has his pain that he’s carrying and his fear. But what’s crucial here is not what a man is but what he does. How will they interact? Will they team up and co-operate? Will they splinter off and die alone? It’s quite the dance they dance over a chilling hour and a half of big chills, big bloody losses and few gains. We take sides and root for our guys.
Liam Neeson is the actor I want with me when I’m in danger. His alpha male persona – and willingness to be uncomfortable - makes him the one to lean on. He braved icy water in Seraphim Falls, led rebellions in The Gangs of New York and Michael Collins and crawled inside a dead cow’s carcass in Rob Roy. You don’t forget these things.
Joe Carnahan knows action (The A-Team, Smokin’ Aces) and he knows it’s no good unless you connect with the characters. We get just enough information but, not too much to get in the way of what is basically an old-fashioned “thrill ride” slash wilderness meditation.
The Grey is haunting and penetrating and saturated with danger. How do our cozy worlds compare?
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35mm thriller
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