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. The Grey (Open Road Films, @2,850Theaters, 117 Minutes, Rated R): So, over the last couple years, Liam Neeson has fought against all odds to save his daughter from white slavers in Paris, has fought against all odds to save his identity from a sinister conspiracy in Berlin, and, now, fights against all odds to save his life from a pack of wolves in Alaska. If I was Neeson, I’d just stay home.
Yes, a plane accident sets Neeson and his team of oil drillers down in the wilderness where the local wolf population sees them as intruders/lunch. It’s up to Neeson to lead his people to civilization by kicking as much wolf ass as he can.
This is a formula that works for Neeson, so this might not be that bad to see. But you know what I’d like to see? Neeson in a role that earns Oscar talk. He’s long overdue.
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. Man On A Ledge (Summit Entertainment, @2,800 Screens, 102 Minutes, Rated PG-13): This is a pretty high concept which ever way you look at it.
The plot appears to be about an ex-cop who is on a ledge of a high-rise building and threatening to jump. Seems he was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and now he wants to end it all.
However, as his cry for help is going on, thieves are attempting to steal some diamonds. Is the suicide attempt real and the buglary a coincidence, or is the ex-cop in on the robbery and trying to draw attention away from the crime? Or is there something else going on?
The film’s mix of a crime caper with a personal drama is a unique concept as well. If it works, this could be a pretty darn good film.
3. One For The Money (Lionsgate, @2,700 Theaters, 106 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Stephanie Plum is one of the most popular female characters in modern genre fiction. She has appeared in 18 novels (the latest? Explosive Eighteen), four novellas, a bunch of short stories and has made Janet Evanovich (one assumes) a very rich woman. She is a character with quirks and personality out the wazoo with a large and loyal fanbase eager for more adventures of the female bounty hunter.
So, why then is the adaptation of the first novel in Evanovich’s Plum series sneaking into theaters this week under the radar? I have not seen anywhere near the amount of publicity this film should have received or needs to make a mark. Is the film that bad? Has Katherine Heigl’s stock plummeted that much that her movies are risky propositions? I don’t know.
Regardless, it is interesting to see the “brokeback pose,” most often seen done by female superheroes on comic covers, put into play on the film’s poster. It couldn’t have been easy for Heigl to stand in such a way that patrons can look at both her derriere and her breasts at the same time. I hope her efforts bring some people in to see the movie at least.
