Synopsis
Following a grueling five-week shift at an Alaskan oil refinery, workers led by sharpshooter John Ottway are flying home for a much-needed vacation. But a brutal storm causes their plane to crash in the frozen wilderness, and only eight men, including Ottway, survive. As they trek southward toward civilization and safety, Ottway and his companions must battle mortal injuries, the icy elements, and a pack of hungry wolves.
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Cast
- Liam NeesonJohn Ottway
- Dermot MulroneyJerome Talget
- Frank GrilloJohn Diaz
- Dallas RobertsPete Henrick
- Nonso AnozieJackson Burke
- James Badge DaleLuke Lewenden
- Anne OpenshawAna Ottway
- Jonathan James BitontiJohn Ottway (5 Years Old)
- Ben Hernandez BrayDwayne Hernandez
- Peter GirgesCompany Clerk
- 75
Slant Magazine
There's little in Joe Carnahan's previous films, marked by their frenetic, fanboy-friendly overindulgences, to predict the cold blast of The Grey, an old-fashioned, neatly arrayed survival story that almost reads like a reaction to the excesses of his past work. - 75
Observer
The Grey avoids smug clichés, takes you to places you least expect and settles for no comfortable solutions, while it explores the dark shadows of the male psyche and finds more emotional fragility there than you find in the usual phony macho myths from Hollywood. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
The Grey, a man's-man of a genre picture that will satisfy the action audience while reminding more discerning viewers what they saw in director Joe Carnahan's decade-old breakthrough, "Narc." - 70
Arizona Republic
Don't be mistaken -- this isn't an artsy thriller. It is still, at heart, men vs. wolves, and the wolves definitely have the home-court advantage. - 60
Time Out
Moment to moment, the film is gripping and beautiful to behold (props to cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi for the mesmerizingly grainy, achromatic visuals). But caveat emptor to those expecting a hinterlands gloss on "Taken" with rapacious curs in place of nefarious Albanians. - 50
Variety
The picture's dialogue-heavy stretches and ambiguous finale could leave ticketbuyers impatient for less chatter and more chomping. - 40
Boxoffice Magazine
This is admirably ambitious, but Carnahan's not nearly good enough a writer or director to pull it off: the results are portentous, muddled and not nearly as entertaining as Neeson's usual face-punching antics. - 40
Village Voice
There's too much Jack London, and, as they systematically pick off the stragglers, too many CGI wolves go unpunched.