Movie : The Grey, or: How Liam Neeson finally fulfills our wishes and fights some wolves, already
Link : The Grey, or: How Liam Neeson finally fulfills our wishes and fights some wolves, already
The Grey, or: How Liam Neeson finally fulfills our wishes and fights some wolves, already
The Grey (2012)
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Directed by Joe Carnahan
***SPOILERS***
For all the macho-manliness emitting from Joe Carnahan’s films, it’s not very surprising he’s latched onto Liam Neeson as of late, choosing him to be the star of The Grey. Neeson owns a commanding presence: a towering figure at 6’ 4’’ and over 200 pounds, he owns a soothing voice that can instantly evaporate and make way for a fiery god (Clash of the Titans) or a methodical killer (Taken). But ever since Batman Begins and Taken, he’s become a typecast actor. Much like Sarah Jessica Parker imitates Carrie Bradshaw or Katherine Heigl repeatedly replays her role from Knocked Up, Neeson’s big-money roles come in the form of the wise father figure that commands attention and can become an ultimate badass at a moment’s notice. And much like Parker or Heigl, adhering to the same character outline hinders Neeson, restricting himself to play the same type of character repeatedly to garner his fan base. But maybe I’ve been too harsh: Ottway feels like a typical Neeson character on paper, but he’s actually one of the most relatable and sympathetically drawn characters in recent memory.
It shows that A)Neeson really is a top-notch actor, but also B) director and writer Joe Carnahan toned down the typical Neeson-ness that plagues many films by toning down his own film. The unbearable male efficiency angle Carnahan adhered to for so many years involved masturbatory, violent homages and gritty, in-your-face confrontations, all filmed by an auteur riddled with ADD. If the camera wasn’t keeping up with the over-stylized life of the incredibly and unbelievably self-unaware characters of his films, then he wasn’t quite hitting home the message that, "Hey, these guys are badasses and you should root for them." The Grey could have easily taken this form. Released in February and starring the as-of-late passable Neeson, a film directed by Carnahan about a bunch of dudes fighting wolves can induce eye rolls and many “meh’s.” But instead of looking like The A-Team, Carnahan instead chooses a straightforward tale the solely depicts the battle between man and nature.
Carnahan fully embraces the desolate Alaskan tundra, employing many long, uninterrupted stretches of snow that has surrounded our characters. As the environment brings out the personalities of our characters, we can view the Alaskan landscape in two different lights. There’s a much more admirable light that allows our characters to open up—by pulling them away form civilization, the landscape has allowed them to come closer together and grow as human beings. They each reveal small tidbits about their lives, whether directly or inadvertently, which, in relation to the frigid environment, display how precious it is we live simple lives. Whether its Hendrick’s (Dallas Roberts) story about his daughter dangling her hair in his face or Burke’s (Nonso Anozie) family photos, the small bits of insight into these characters lives seem gargantuan given their repressed situation. For such a minimalist film, the power emitting from these collection of moments accumulates into something as vast as the tundra trapping our characters.
But as much as Alaska provides retributive bliss for some of the characters, its unforgiving nature in its battle with men gives the film a bittersweet taste. Kudos for Carnahan for never backing away. He could have easily provided a pleaser ending, vindicating the cruel men of his film. But in their battle with the man-eating wolves, the wolves officially defeat only two men. Burke falls prey to hypothermia, while both Hendricks and Talget (Dermot Mulroney) lose their battles with the merciless terrain. Diaz (Frank Grillo) eventually gives in, deciding he’s found peace with the forest and choosing to die in the only place he feels understood. But the power of such a statement is immediately overpowered by the cruelty of nature: the elongated shot of him staring into the distance slowly transforms into a dooming shot, slowly panning down, stretching the distant mountains until they fill the frame, displaying the vastness of the forest alongside a quietly booming orchestra, the low rumble of nearby wolves and Diaz’s fearful heavy breathing. Even in its most somber moments, The Grey never forgets that nature has no feelings: you live or you die—it's survival of the fittest.
While Carnahan finally breaks from his over-creative shell by becoming creative in smaller ways, we still feel him creeping into the film, for both good and bad. His typical Peckinpah-like male camaraderie feels organic instead of forced, allowing these characters to grow from one another instead of constantly tooting their own horns. Neeson’s calming of the man as he escapes into death is one of the more gripping scenes you’re likely to see this year, displaying Neeson’s quiet power and Carnahan’s ability to give the characters a commonality without screaming his own intentions. Despite the grimness of it all, they’re there to help each other, even if it means calming a man to death or allowing Diaz to fall prey to the wolves. This muted understanding of each other’s situations is never pronounced, to the point where it becomes an understanding within the viewer.
And although Carnahan is never bombastic in his approach, we see that ADD problem slipping through the cracks, contradicting his approach and limiting the power of certain moments. There’s a wonderful shot of Ottway being stripped away from his wife in a dream, escaping the white blandness of his bed and slipping into the white vastness of Alaska. But really, do we need these small flashbacks and wishful memories? The most powerful moments of the film radiate from the characters themselves, usually during deep and longing conversations or desperate, inadvertent cries for help. Ottway’s speech about his father gives purpose to his plight, displaying the nature behind his career path and his mentality in battling the terrain. Unfortunately, it’s coupled alongside Carnahan’s agitating need to be noticed, inserting a blurry shot of a 5-year-old Neeson listening to his father, instead of allowing the gripping Neeson to steal the show. Hendrick lies on the ground, hallucinating his daughter whipping her hair in his face as the wolves tear away his flesh. It’s a soul-tearing transition, but it’s hindered because Carnahan felt the need to physically insert Hendrick’s daughter into the forest.
These moments really don’t fit with the rest of the film, which is already teetering on the edge of dullness and fervency. In a film about several men traveling in a rigid, immutable environment, the room for error is thin. But despite the auteuristic inconsistencies, Carnahan’s focused dedication to man's seemingly hopeless plight against nature remains a unique venture in cinema. All too often we find the man vs. nature angle bogged down by melodrama or a mission for self-discovery. The Grey is unequivocal in its mission to capture such a dynamic, choosing to employ all the powers of filmmaking to depict such a brutal battle and using character development to branch off such an approach. Much like the characters, The Grey abruptly traps you in the Alaskan terrain, then allows you to slowly understand the people you’re traveling with. It's an immersive experience that will leave you feeling cold and distant, much like the hopeless characters of the film. For a film that seemed like just another Carnahan/Neeson venture, The Grey displayed that there’s so much more than meets the eye.
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