Makers of 'The Grey' confront inner beasts

The action pic opens against Summit thriller "Man on a Ledge" and Lionsgate's Katherine Heigl action-comedy "One for the Money"; award contenders "The Artist" and "The Descendants" make major expansions.

Actor Liam Neeson, right, and director Joe Carnahan worked together on "The Grey." (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) By Geoff Boucher, Times Staff Writer In the opening scenes of "The Grey,"the new film opening in theaters Friday, Liam Neeson's

Joe Carnahan's thriller The Grey, currently receiving kudos for its blend of red-blooded action and considered existentialism, tells the fictional tale of a group of oilrig workers who survive a plane crash only to be hunted by wolves in the wild.

Speaking about his character in The Grey, Grillo continued, “To have a character that has such a life on screen was just a gift. So it was really a no-brainer — it was more a matter of him being able to get me in the movies

Judging by The Grey, director Joe Carnahan's new deep-freeze thriller, that might do it. The best thing about this movie is its shivery hypothermic vérité, a credit to the skill of cinematographer Masanobu Takanayagi, working under what must have been