Joe Carnahan is one of those frustrating filmmakers to get
your head around he has had a more interesting career hypothetically (and in
all fairness has desired such a career) than he has had in actuality.
I’m much more interested in the alternate universe Joe
Carnahan who made his long threatened opus, Killing Pablo. The one who had the
balls to make White Jazz with George Clooney. The one got to make the Mission
Impossible 3 that he proposed. The one that scared the shit out of Tom Cruise
so badly that he ran to David Fincher of all people to lighten things up.
I am less interested in the one who ended up directing The
A-Team and producing Smoking Aces 2. When looking at his CV one is left with
one film that’s pretty good considering, one flat out masterpiece and a guilty
pleasure of a gore cartoon. For all his potential and despite the fact that I like
him personally, there is no doubt that Joe Carnahan has talked a better game
than he has played.
Until now.
Not only is The Grey the best film that has had Joe
Carnahan’s name on it in the ten years since Narc, it may even be better than
Narc. A hardcore piece of masculine cinema that feels out of time. Robert
Aldrich might have made this, Walter Hill on his best day, Raoul Walsh,
Peckinpah, John Huston. Hell there’s even the slightest touch of Herzog in this
thing. To walk into one of todays theaters and see this thing feels nothing
short of astounding.
Pitiless, merciless, written with a keen understanding of
human nature and shot superlative skill, The Grey isn’t just good. It’s as
great as B-Movies get. And if you know me, you know that designation is not a put down by
any stretch of the imagination.
Liam Neeson centers the movie as a man who finds his
survival instinct reenergized at the least expected time. It’s one of his best
performances, and if you come into the movie expecting him to be “Just doing
Liam Neeson” be prepared to be reminded what an affecting actor he can be. It
was always Neeson’s surprising vulnerability not his cool that made him such a fascinating
presence (that and his freakishly large hands) and his character Ottway is one
of his best performances.
By now you’ve most likely heard the premise of an Artic
Drilling Crew stranded in the tundra, hunted by wolves. Perhaps you’ve even
seen the misleading trailers which try to sell the film as Unknown But With
Wolves. What you probably haven’t heard is about the seething desolation of the
environment that Carnahan creates. The way hope slowly drains from the men and
their environment, until they reach something that almost transcends hope. You
probably haven’t heard of the tense set pieces Carnahan sets up. The way he
shoots these animals and the animals the men become to fend them off. The
impenetrable dark lit only by the eye shine. Driven back only weak fires. The
desperation that this movie brings. This is Jack London gone brutal and crazed. This is great cinema.
Welcome back Joe. I’ve missed you.
....
In case you haven't been following along
I rounded off the 80's and kicked off The 90's over at Son Of Danse Macabre, with two of my favorite horror movies to write about. I think both turned out pretty well, but why don't you go over and judge for yourself?
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