Underrated Films - The Grey

 

New year, new underrated movie to review. Let's get to it.

The Grey is a survival thriller movie based on Ian MacKenize Jeffers' short story Ghost Walker. It was produced by LD Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, and 1984 Private Defense Contractors with Open Road Films distributing. Joe Carnahan directed and wrote the screenplay along Ian MacKenize Jeffers himself.

The story is, after working for a grueling five weeks shift at an Alaskan oil refinery, John Ottway and his co-works take a plane ride home for a much-needed vacation. On their way home a brutal storm causes their plane to crash into a frozen wilderness. Now, John must protect the eight remaining survivors against mortal injuries, the icy elements, and a pack on hungry wolves.

Why It's Underrated

Be honest, have you ever heard of this movie? I won't blame you if you haven't cause neither have I until I started looking into Carnahan's filmography after watching Copshop.

My Thoughts

I'll get into one slight issue I found with the movie before getting into praise. I'm very mixed on the ambiguous ending. I get the movie has a refusal to offer easy comfort, but the thing is they tease a big fight then cut to black and then we're given a post-credit scene. However I felt like a quick montage during the credits could've given us one last intense survival moment without throwing the themes away for the sake of an action moment.

Okay let's get into praise starting with the tone. This is quite an intense movie, I wasn't fully expected to be on edge after the plane crash (which by the way is brilliantly done). But throughout the movie there's always this unnerving dread even with the more quieter moments. And what really gives you that dreadful feeling isn't just the wolves themselves, but the environment they're in. The Alaskan wilderness is punishing both with it's brutal cold and constant sense of isolation.

Then there's the depth. I'll be honest, I was expecting a full blown action flick. But I was pleasantly surprised to watch a movie tackle themes of not just survival, but facing death, illusion of control, faith vs. nihilism, what it means to live despite everything feeling meaningless. So while the action is brutal but fun to watch, this added layer was very welcomed.

The last thing I'll praise is Liam Neeson's performance. This is one of his top best pieces of work. He brilliantly played a grieving, broken man. Bringing both a quiet intensity and an emotional rawness that really carries the film. One of my absolute favorite moments of his is when John is just sitting on the ground, his angry and shouting to the sky or as I should say God and saying "SHOW ME SOMETHING REAL!" It was an incredible moment by Neeson.

Guys, you should definitely give The Grey a watch. I know I had some slight issues with the ending but that was just my perspective, so maybe you'll like far more then me.

My final rating is, Great.

So that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Feb 12th, for the return of What You Probably Didn't Know About. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.