Clearly the best thriller this year (although 2012 just started), I don’t think I have enough words to describe how much I love and respect this film. Shot in harsh terrain in 40 days without all the fancy Hollywood hoopla, it clearly displays a large amount of professionalism by the cast, crew, and everyone in between.

For many who have come across this film via TV spots, posters or on-line promos, the common thought is probably, “Oh, here’s another one of those plane crash survival films like 'Alive,' with a twist resembling 'The Thing.'” Perhaps there might be some mirroring of those films, but the difference with the “The Grey” is it has a much more intelligent script by co-writer, director Joe Carnahan. Blessing the darkened, grungy, frostbitten film is the rugged Liam Neeson.

“The Grey” is a an easy story to follow in which an Alaskan oil drilling team finds themselves experiencing pretty much everyone’s worst nightmare. Not only does their plane crash, but those who survive discover themselves in a white abyss-like world of knee-deep, snowy terrain, which happens to be inhabited by territorial, hungry wolves. 

The brilliance of this film comes through the ball-busting, somewhat insecure, testicular fortitude group of “tough guys” led by a troubled man (Liam Neeson). He forcefully finds himself as not only a leader sharing smarts from his past (including one pertaining to his wife), but also a savior who maintains his sanity when confronting both life and death. 

This is more than just a film about a bunch of guys stranded in the woods. Each character has his little moment to develop and erupts with his own personal reaction – some are more accepting and docile than others – but within the core of every character, there’s flesh that keeps their desire to survive warm and heart pumping. 

The film comes off a little too long. However, considering it's a situation where mankind battles nature, it isn’t easy to come up with decisions when no matter where you look seems like “Destination Nowhere.” That’s where one’s mind starts to twitch, and Carnahan catches those moments sporadically – with results.  When everyone wants to keep going, forces even the toughest of guys cannot control lead to thoughts of just giving up. It's the psychological battle of life vs. death. No matter what the outcome, it’s a choice with harsh results.

In many ways, Neeson carries the film and does a flawless job doing it. Those who surround him also serve as strings of survival consciousness. This is artistically caught in scenes based simply on gestures.

From start to finish, scenery which happens to be completely breathtaking also displays how hard it must have been to shoot this movie. It was a brutal all-for-one approach when filming “The Grey,” which I believe serves as redemption for Carnahan’s “The A – Team.” 

Overall, “The Grey” isn’t just a film with great dialog, cool cinematography, emotional intelligence and faith-life questions; it's also a badass film with attitude. I think it’s impossible to leave the theater NOT liking it. “The Grey” is definitely a film that will engrave itself in your mind, body and soul for days. What makes this film stand out is that the harsh situations presented in this movie CAN happen in real life!

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GRADE: A / GENRE: Action/Adventure, Thriller / RATED: R / RUN TIME: 1 Hr. 57 Min.

STARRING: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie

DIRECTOR: Joe Carnahan