THE GREY (Joe Carnahan)
THE GREY starts out almost in Terrence Malick fashion, what with all the voice overs and musings and philosophical undertones. As the action is set in motion by a plane crash into the icy wilderness, a group of survivors band together against a pack of wolves who see them as enemies. Liam Neeson is John Ottway, who becomes the de facto leader of the group, who knows this and that, but we never really understand why he is so good with this and that and has become the leader. Neeson's husky voice and tall, brooding physique nevertheless helps securing the integrity of his character as a leader figure. The story concerns itself with survival, and with it constant questions of who's the actual predator, the humans or the wolves? Joe Carnahan, working on his script and Ian MacKenzie Jeffers (which is in turn based on Jeffers' short story) illustrates how man really is expendable, and any minute may be your last. What Carnahan achieves best in THE GREY is making us feel every...