Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Grey (2011)

Director: Joe Carnahan. Cast: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo. 117 min. Rated R. Action/Drama.

This was a surprise. Reading the ads, I presumed it would be about men trapped in the Alaska snow, eaten by wolves one by one. But The Grey goes much deeper. It is meditative about death, offering self-reflective moments to understand how one dies, not necessarily by being ripped apart by wolves, but by losing the will to live. Neeson's actions as the leader didn't all make sense to me, but he makes the role believable; the recent death of his wife Natasha Richardson must've had a major role in strengthening the performance. This is a movie you can feel.

PS: Wait till the end of the credits for a final scene. I really don't like the way this trend is growing in movies, but heck, this one is worth the wait.

Mo says:

4 comments:

  1. How lucky I am !Tonight I was supposed to return the DVD to the movie store but I got stuck in my cousin's personal issue and then I couldn't go there, now I see I found another chance to see after credit scene which I almost miss!
    Spoiler! It shows the wolf was dominated by Liam,right? he was taking his last breath ,but what about Nesson ?Any idea about he's alive or not?!
    Did you get his final pray to GOD? on the contrary of the same scene in Israel's movie we saw already , here was a pray which not be answered! He was yelling at GOD but nothing happened at all . I thought filmmaker aimed to challenge the role of pray and prove that there is no place for pray anymore but I'm not sure.
    very good movie.

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  2. The final scene at the end of the credits refers back to another scene earlier in the movie, where a wolf is shot, and we see a closeup of the wolf breathing his last breaths. So I guess the final scene shows the wolf on the ground and breathing, which means he will die soon, and Liam Neeson is not moving, which means he's either dead or alive. Either way, he has conquered the wolf.

    I loved how Neeson screams to God for help, and then says: "Forget it. I'll do it on my own." I felt so connected to the movie with that scene. So real.

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  3. Did you know the tragedy of Neeson's life?I didn't know. I read this article right now.maybe interesting for you as well

    http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/19/neesons-loss-shows-up-in-grey

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  4. Of course. Natasha Richardson's death made big news when it happened at the time.

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