Review of The Grey

I love movies. Always have. And if there's one thing that I've learned over the years when it comes to movies, it's this: Don't expect a whole lot out of January and February releases...and see them at your own risk. But over the last couple years there have been some pretty decent movies released early in the year. A few years ago it was Taken. About a year after that it was Shutter Island. And this year we have The Grey. Now, I will admit, I didn't like this one as much as the other two I just mentioned. But it was still a lot better than most movies that get released this time of year. The acting was very good, and there were some pretty compelling scenes (i.e. the "you're gonna die" scene right after the plane crash, and the final scene where Neeson's character gets prepared to do battle with the Alpha). And the cinematography was absolutely perfect. The desolation and emptiness in the landscape had a strange beauty to it that was a bit mesmerizing. I even didn't care that the ending left much to the imagination, even with the after-the-credits scene. However, what was a bit problematic, and is always going to knock a score down pretty significantly in my book, is a weak screenplay, and a lack of believability. And unfortunately The Grey had both. The dialogue, at times, was o.k., and at others was...well just not very good. And I think much of that had to do with the fact that the characters were forced to make decisions that didn't seem real simply for the sake of advancing the plot to it's nihilistic conclusion. And so what could have been an excellent film ended up just being a decent one. Still, one could do much worse when going to see a film that was released in January.