Genre:
Action/Adventure/Drama
Directed by:
Joe Carnahan
Starring:
Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot
Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson
Release date:
Fri 27, Jan 2012
Budget $25 million
Box office $77,278,331
The Grey is a 2012 American Psychological thriller film
directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, and Dermot
Mulroney. It is based on the short story Ghost Walker by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers,
who also co-wrote the screenplay with Carnahan. The story follows a number of
oil-men stranded in Alaska after a plane crash, who are forced to survive using
little more than their wits, as a pack of grey wolves stalks them.
Plot
John Ottway (Liam Neeson) works in Alaska killing the wolves
that threaten an oil drilling team. On his last day on the job, Ottway writes a
letter to his wife Ana (Anne Openshaw) that he plans to commit suicide. While
holding the barrel of a rifle in his mouth, Ottway hears the howl of a wolf,
and pulls the trigger, but the gun doesn't fire. Upon completing the job, the
team and Ottway head home on a plane that crashes in a blizzard. Ottway then
sees a vision of his wife but awakens to find one of the team, Lewenden (James
Badge Dale), mortally wounded. Ottway calms him, letting him know that he is
going to die, and then Lewenden dies peacefully.
Ottway sets the survivors to task collecting material for a
fire. He sees a woman in need of help, but finds her being eaten by a gray wolf
who also attacks Ottway. He is rescued by the others and explains that they are
most likely in the wolves' territory. After starting a fire, the survivors take
turns keeping watch. While urinating, Hernandez (Ben Bray) is killed by two
wolves. The remaining survivors find his body in the morning and Ottway
suggests they leave the crash site because they are wide open to attack. Diaz
(Frank Grillo) questions Ottway's leadership and begins defying his orders.
Before they leave, Ottway and the others remove the wallets from many of the
bodies with the intention of returning them to surviving family members.
Hendrick (Dallas Roberts) says a prayer and thanks to God for allowing them to
survive the crash and then the survivors leave the crash site.
While hiking across the snow, Flannery (Joe Anderson) falls
behind and is killed by three wolves. The remaining survivors continue on and
make camp in the woods, where tension between Ottway and Diaz comes to a head
as the survivors create makeshift weaponry. Diaz threatens Ottway with his
knife, but is disarmed by Ottway. The survivors meet the alpha wolf, who sends
an omega to test Diaz. However, the survivors are able to kill the wolf and eat
it. Diaz severs its head and throws it back as a symbol of defiance.
The group stops to build a campfire at night and they start
a conversation. Diaz tells the group how the men who died aren't in heaven and
there is no god; Talget (Dermot Mulroney) states that he believes in God, but
Ottway confesses that he too is an atheist, but that he wishes he could
believe. Burke (Nonso Anozie) awakens and he begins to hallucinate from
hypoxia. He goes back to sleep in front of the campfire. The group bonds over
personal stories. Ottway tells the group about a poem that is hung above his
father's desk, a poem that contributes to the film's major theme. He recites
the poem:
"Once more into the fray...
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day...
Live and die on this day..."
A blizzard approaches and they try to preserve the campfire
to prevent hypothermia. Despite their best efforts, Ottway finds Burke's frozen
lifeless body in the morning. Further in their travels, the survivors come
across a high canyon wall within which, screened by trees, they identify a
river. Hendrick jumps to the trees to secure a line as a means of traverse.
Diaz and Ottway make it across the line to join Hendrick, but Talget, who is
afraid of heights, loses his glasses on the way and freezes out of fear. He
reluctantly continues across, but soon finds his injured hand has begun bleeding
and he gets caught up in the makeshift rope. Talget struggles to untangle
himself, but the line breaks and he crashes through the trees to the ground.
Wounded, Talget sees a vision of his daughter and is dragged away by the
wolves. While attempting to save Talget, Diaz falls from the tree and injures
his knee.
The three remaining survivors continue their trek and make
it to the river, but an exhausted Diaz can make it no further, preferring to
stay and die than go on. Diaz understands that if Ottway and Henrick dragged
him along, they would be more open to attack. Thus, he decides to come to terms
with death. Hendrick tries to convince Diaz to carry on, but Ottway tells him
it is futile. They give each other final goodbyes and Ottway and Hendrick leave
Diaz on the riverside, as the crackling of branches caused by wolves is heard.
Ottway and Hendrick continue, but are soon chased by wolves again. Fleeing,
Hendrick falls in the river and he gets his foot stuck between underwater
rocks. Ottway jumps into the river to attempt to save him, but Hendrick drowns
in the river. Freezing and alone, Ottway then curses God and asks for his help
with no response. Ottway continues on without his wet coat but he is eventually
dazed from hypothermia taking effect.
Ottway then stops and pulls out each wallet collected from
the dead, examining the mementos they contain. He places them on the snow, in
the shape of a cross. He then adds his own wallet as well. Suddenly, the pack
of wolves surrounds him, leading Ottway to discover that he has walked right
into their den. He is soon spotted by the alpha wolf and the other pack members
back off. Ottway sees another vision of his wife, which now reveals that she
died on a hospital bed. Deciding to make a final stand, he puts on the emergency
wristwatch, tapes miniature alcohol bottles to his fist and breaks them on a
nearby rock and also tapes a knife to his other hand. He quietly recites his
father's poem to himself, then charges the alpha wolf before the screen goes
black.
In a brief post-credits scene, the back of Ottway's head is
seen lying on top of a still-breathing wolf's stomach. It is unknown whether or
not he survived.
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References.
External links:
"Main Page." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2012. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>.
https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi
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