Movie Reviewer says "The Grey" is an action film with a theological question

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 Andy McKinney: "'Why is man born only to suffer and die?'  You don’t often get this kind of theological interest in an action flick."  

Andy says this peek into human spirituality adds to the depth of the character and to our enjoyment or at least appreciation of the film.  Andy gives The Grey, headed by Liam Neeson, a solid two and a half saw blades.

Andy says, "As humans our fear of wolves goes back a long ways, maybe all the way to our days around a campfire with nothing but pointy sticks to protect us.  The fable is Red Riding Hood and the wolf, not the kangaroo.  The Grey keys into this atavistic fear in the most compelling way put on film in many years.  The Grey scares the Dickens out of us.  

Liam Neeson carries this film on his own broad shoulders. 

"Writer, Director, Producer Joe Carnahan must take the credit (and the blame, as we will see) for this movie which is much more than a simple action flick.  Even the title, The Grey, is opaque.  The title might refer to the wolves, the most obvious reference.  Or, given the misty atmosphere over the landscape (supposedly wild Alaska) it might be the impenetrable terrain of the Last Frontier.  Or it may be that realm that exists, however briefly, between life and death.

"Why not more saw blades for this scary and thought provoking film?  As producer, Joe Carnahan has allowed a number of real howlers to spoil his film. Maybe I wouldn’t care about this stuff if I hadn’t spent so many years in the Arctic oil camps myself. But in a realistic movie, care is usually taken to be realistic."
The Grey is rated R for violence.
"The film will surely do well and, my quibbles aside, it should do well.  We need films that examine the totality of the human condition, it does us good," Andy says.
For Andy's comments and show times at the Sawmill Theatre in Payson, go to the Payson Daily Bugle's Movie Review Page.