In theatres now is the survival-thriller The Grey starring Liam Neeson. Filmed on location over forty days in Smithers, British Columbia, The Grey follows a group of Alaskan oil-rig workers who, after enduring a plane crash, are forced to survive against a pack of wolves hunting them down one by one. The second collaboration between Liam Neeson and director Joe Carnahan – after 2010’s redundant The A-Team – The Grey is an action film of considerable depth and features one of Neeson’s best performances in recent memory – and no, that is not hyperbole on my part. It is a visceral tale of survival, and one of the finer man-vs.-nature tales to come out of Hollywood in some time.
While the notion of man being trapped in the wilderness and surviving against the elements and animals is a plot device that has been used in countless films and works of prose, The Grey differs from most of these through its use of characterization and cast of characters. These men are – for the most part – miscreants and social outcasts; not in the least bit like the heroic protagonists found within the prospect literature of yore. They are all broken and have chosen their life of isolation for a reason, and Carnahan does a blissful job of illustrating this notion and crafting characters that reflect it.
No finer example of this can be found than in Neeson’s protagonist Ottway, the man hired by the oil company to protect the workers against wild predators. A man existing on a thread of humanity, thrust into an impossible situation of survival, Liam Neeson is simply incredible in this film. Every word of dialogue that is spoken from his mouth is caught below the weight of his past and the hopelessness of the future. From barking orders to writing a letter to the recital of his father’s poem – a beautiful and haunting refrain that creeps up throughout the film as its conceptual anchor – Neeson’s portrayal of the hunter who has become the hunted is one of the most layered performances of his entire career. Yes, this is the man who brought the legends of Oskar Schindler, Rob Roy, and Michael Collins to life, and Neeson can be proud to place this role alongside the great characters of his canon of film. Though Neeson in recent times has become known for action-vehicles and blockbuster spectacles, he shows in The Grey that an actor of his calibre can always mould an action movie into a great character piece.
But Liam Neeson’s tour-de-force performance isn’t all that The Grey has to offer. As an action-thriller, The Grey offers a tense and powerful cellulite experience that will not disappoint, mixing primeval action and heart-racing thrills with a stark and grim exploration of isolation and the human condition within the unrelenting inhumanity of nature. While it’s easy to forget in this globalized age that man will always be a slave to the elements, in The Grey we are reminded of the savagery that exists just beyond the grasp of civil society.
If you’re in the mood for a thriller with more to offer than just scares and tension, The Grey will certainly deliver. It combines visceral cinematic exposition and brutal action with a solemn meditation on man and his place against the backdrop of a cold and unforgiving nature. Few action films in recent memory stand out as such deliberative conceptual works, but thankfully The Grey is able to do so in a way that is both meaningful and accessible for any film viewer. And in the case of Liam Neeson, it is a fine reminder of why he is one of Hollywood’s most gifted actors as he offers a performance that is as heartbreaking as it is inspiring.
I saw the film last night and expressed almost the same words to my husband although not as eloquently….. Liam Neeson’s performance was stellar and the other actors, wonderful examples of people I never knew before. I know them now! I had thought the limited scope of that magnificent landscape wouldn’t be enough to keep me interested throughout the entire film, but actually it intensified the drama and kept me excited throughout. The dialogue was magnificent—the exchange between men who didn’t even know each other’s names was powerful.
Congratulations to the writer, director, actors, etc.
Yes. Beautiful. Honest. Real.