Quick Look: The Grey (2012)

Liam Neeson is one of several actors which will draw me to watch a movie without even knowing much about the plot - and this was the case with The Grey.  It stars Neeson and Dermot Mulroney (although Dermot is hardly recognizable compared to most of his other films, in my opinion), and is directed by Joe Carnahan.  'R' rating is for language, violence (specifically animal attacks), and gore (related to said animal attacks, and a plane crash).

The Basics: Ottway (Neeson) is a "hunter"; he shoots wolves who might otherwise injure or kill the mechanics working on the Alaskan pipeline.  Ottway and a group of the workers are flying "home" from working the fields and their plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness.  The few crash survivors have to battle the harsh elements as well as a viscous pack of gray wolves who are stalking them in a seemingly futile fight to survive.
 
**spoiler alert** This is a movie that falls in a category I like to refer to "once and done".  It's a very good movie, but the journey and conclusion are so melancholy, it would be depressing to want to watch it again.
The Grey, in my opinion, is mostly about the acceptance of death.  Ottway is seen in the first few minutes ready to commit suicide, but his gun misfires.  We learn, through a series of flashbacks throughout that his wife has passed away from some illness, and that he is now ready to be dead (with her?), as well.  Interestingly, after the crash, it is Ottway who wants to lead the survivors, not resigning to this twist of fate.
Moments after the plane crash, Ottway very calmly talks a man through his dying moments, very humanely, like a grief counselor.  There was no begging or pleading, like one might expect from a disaster-type movie, and it worked very, very well.
Right after the crash, the wolves emerge from the woods begin to attack the survivors, so the decision is made to flee into the woods and attempt to hike to "somewhere" to give the few men remaining a chance to survive.  Between the weather, the wolves, and the landscape no one survives.  In several of the scenes the different men seem at peace with their passing.  While I could say there are religious overtones, again different characters accepting their deaths peacefully, as if moving onto something better, as well as Neeson's character asking God for a sign near the end of the film, I personally would not call religion a central element.  I note this because I understand where some people could make the inference.
The movie is very much worth seeing for Neeson's performance, as well as the cinematography.  It literally chilled me to watch the snow fall, and see these guys try to survive in these blizzard-like conditions, not to mention 2 of them later falling into an icy river.  The deadly weather was contrasted very well with some of the more serene visuals of landscape.  This movie wrapped up well, yet, I am not sure if we were supposed to feel at peace with the outcomes, or if we were supposed to feel sorrow that these men died in the wilderness in the manners each of them did.

Extras:
- The film was actually shot in British Columbia, not Alaska