Shades of Grey

Review: The Grey

The Grey illustrates something that I continue to struggle with when considering the quality of a movie. Is a movie “good” if I am entertained, or if it is well-made? While a well-made film is more likely to entertain (and a poorly made film less likely to entertain), they are not the same thing. For example, while The Artist was perhaps the best the film of the year, my favorite movie of 2011 was Warrior. While, the latter entertained me the most, the former was a more finely-tuned film. Another example: Transformers is an awful movie; it is silly, filled with plot holes, and lacks any great acting talent. But Transformers is filled with giant, fighting robots and director Michael Bay’s infamous explosions. It’s fun from an adrenaline perspective, but awful from a cinema viewpoint. So is it “good”?

I think the answer depends on who you are and what type of movies you like. I have friends who judge a film entirely on the art-form employed in making it. Put them in the “It’s good if it’s well-made” club. I also have friends who are solely swayed on how much fun they have. They’re on the “It’s good if it’s entertaining” team. And then there are those of us who are independents; we want a little of both.

I believe this helps explain the apparent disparity in audience reactions to The Grey. It currently has a 77% on RottenTomatoes, a 7.8/10 on IMDB, Roger Ebert gave it 3 ½ stars out of 4, and I liked it too. However, the two girls I saw it with didn’t like it, expressing sentiments similar to many other reactions I saw on Facebook and heard around campus.

If you haven’t seen it, The Grey follows the survivors of an Alaskan plane crash as they attempt to survive the bitter environment and the ruthless wolves into whose territory they have crashed. Led by a powerful performance from Liam Neeson (Taken), the film from director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team) explores the human will to survive and gives audiences a very realistic look at different reactions individuals experience in life-and-death situations. We truly believe that there is the threat of death at each turn and every minute is filled with an agonizing sort of dread which makes us feel the tension as if we were truly alongside the characters, abandoned in the wilderness and surrounded by danger. It is certainly not Taken with wolves, as the trailers would have you believe, but rather a stark, dramatic thriller that even manages to fit in some intelligent commentary on religion and the most important things in life.

When I asked my friends why they didn’t like it, they responded that it didn’t have a happy ending; that it was too sad. I was silently incredulous. As with so many other dramatic tragedies, the situation didn’t permit a “happy” ending; it’s all about finding inspiration in the tenacity of the human spirit as we watch the characters fight so hard to live in the face of inevitable disaster. And too sad?!? A movie that makes you feel something has done its job! Having connected with characters so strongly that you care about them and what fate befalls them is the success every well-made film longs for.

And there’s the difference. The escapism The Grey provides is a realistic look at an extraordinary situation. So if you are the type of person who purely values over-the-top feats to overcome extraordinary situations, then The Grey isn’t for you. You can stick to your fun, entertainment movies; and that’s okay. But if you find quality in a well-made realistic film, then I would recommend you give The Grey a chance.

The Final Word: Go buy a ticket. Or wait to rent it. Your choice!