The Grey (2011)

I'm somewhat a Liam Neeson fan, along with half the world, so I watched his 2011 thriller The Grey this past week.  While I cannot recommend this movie due to the extreme language and violence, there is quite a lot good to say about it.

Neeson plays Ottway, a marksman and hunter hired by an oil company in Alaska to keep the rig workers safe from the wolves.  The problem comes when the plane he is on crashes in the arctic wilderness, leaving Ottway and a few other survivers miles from help and surrounded by wolves.  The movie is largely about their struggle to survive.

Really, the movie is all about Liam Neeson.  Ottway is an emotionally wounded man, trying desperately to deal with the recent death of his wife.  That Neeson himself lost his wife in a skiing accident in 2009 seems entirely relevant to his performance.  And his performance is quite good.

As far as entertainment, The Grey is hit and miss.  There are moments when the tension is built up quite well, such as when the survivers are staring down the wolf pack , and all you can see are eyes in the darkness glowing from the light of their torches.  But the film does become repetative as well; by the time the wolves attack for the third or fourth time you have a decided "This is like the last time" feeling.  Also, the survivers make one or two choices that even in my most charitable frame of mind I must call questionable.  Finally, many, many people -particularly Americans who like perfectly resolved, happy endings -will not care for how the film ends.

But what impressed me most about The Grey is the thoughtfulness it injects into the struggle to survive.  This is not just a movie about those trying to live; it is a movie where those trying to live begin wondering why they want to live.  There are many reasons given to survive, ranging from seeing loved ones again to the desire to have children to the simple fear of death.  Death as a philosophical problem underlies this movie.  What reason do any of us have for fighting off the wolves?  What meaning is there for us in our struggle for life in the light of the certain death that comes for all of us and the ones we love?  It's no surprise then that spiritual issues are also discussed; the characters wonder if there is a God, and the movie ultimately questions whether life without God is worthwhile.  It isn't enough to be competent or capable -it isn't even enough to be an action hero.  If there is nothing in this world beyond ourselves then all of life becomes a long defeat, a wait for the wolves.  That is a philosophy of true despair, one that Ottway understands all too well by the end.  All in all very thoughtful, if a bit heavy handed at times.

Entertainment: 5/10
Artistic value: 8/10
Technical: 5/10

Overall: 6/10