A terrifying tale of man against beast, set in the barren and unforgiving cold of the Arctic. Liam Neeson superbly portrays a leader struggling with his own hardships, trudging with a broken group of lost souls who offer little hope themselves, leaving one man to defiantly fight for them all.
Friday, March 23, 2012
The Grey...Neeson excels, but the ending?
The Grey...The Cold ...Calculated...Canine
Starring: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney and Frank Grillo
Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Written by: Joe Carnahan and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Released: January 2012
Synopsis: After their plane crashes in Alaska, seven oil workers are
faced with a bleak outlook for survival. A leader amongst them emerges, desperately hinging on his fine-tuned survival skills in the daunting quest to
reach help, while a pack of relentless wolves lingers in the darkness.
Trailer
An airplane loses the battle with turbulence, plummeting into the Arctic landscape, coddling only seven oil field survivors who are outcasts, heavy drinkers, and lacking in most everything. There are insurmountable obstacles confronting the unfortunate survivors including life-threatening internal and external struggles. Many central themes emerge within this drama including isolation, frustration, conflict, and masculinity.
Ottway (Liam Neeson) is a loner, his wife no longer in his life, and has fallen miserably into a deep depression teetering on the brink of suicide. The movie drifts to soft, serene, mind-filled images of his deceased wife, (Anne Openshaw) in tender, admiring moments which is in drastic contrast to his profession as an apparent tough sharp-shooter, protecting staff of a petroleum company from wildlife as they work. His skills are gladly tapped in a variety of ways when needed most, as the group is confronted with numerous survival dilemmas.
No doubt the passing of Neeson's wife Natasha Richardson just prior to filming this movie, had a verisimilitude impact on the intense moments of compassion displayed. He writes, then covets final words to his wife in this drama, crumpled on a scrap of paper throughout his journey, while also reflecting on a framed four-line poem at home, treasured and created by his father.
The poem is starkly simple, yet intriguing, bluntly maintaining a framework for a deeper meaning to his being and fosters an essence to the film. Ottway convincingly delivers a gripping emotional portrayal exploring loss, courage, love, and fear. Overall, his realistic performance is more than notable, and leaves the audience with an elevated respect for the breadth of Liam Neeson's acting abilities.
The film does indeed present some terrifying moments, and is not for the weak of heart. The scenes display a vivid, cold, hopeless, backdrop, (blood included) only calmed slightly by the interesting dialogue amongst the rogue group of survivors. A disappointing observation is the group's predicable pattern that evolves. Stop each night, make camp, chat, drink, and opps... someone goes amiss! And so goes the story...
The ending is not what I expected, and in essence the director leaves the conclusion up to the audience. A tip... stay in your seats until after the credits, as there is an additional 5-second scene, that may or may not shed some light on your own version of how you determine this story ends.
No doubt the passing of Neeson's wife Natasha Richardson just prior to filming this movie, had a verisimilitude impact on the intense moments of compassion displayed. He writes, then covets final words to his wife in this drama, crumpled on a scrap of paper throughout his journey, while also reflecting on a framed four-line poem at home, treasured and created by his father.
The poem is starkly simple, yet intriguing, bluntly maintaining a framework for a deeper meaning to his being and fosters an essence to the film. Ottway convincingly delivers a gripping emotional portrayal exploring loss, courage, love, and fear. Overall, his realistic performance is more than notable, and leaves the audience with an elevated respect for the breadth of Liam Neeson's acting abilities.
The film does indeed present some terrifying moments, and is not for the weak of heart. The scenes display a vivid, cold, hopeless, backdrop, (blood included) only calmed slightly by the interesting dialogue amongst the rogue group of survivors. A disappointing observation is the group's predicable pattern that evolves. Stop each night, make camp, chat, drink, and opps... someone goes amiss! And so goes the story...The ending is not what I expected, and in essence the director leaves the conclusion up to the audience. A tip... stay in your seats until after the credits, as there is an additional 5-second scene, that may or may not shed some light on your own version of how you determine this story ends. 
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