Survival films are always tough pills to swallow. Through a bleak story, the audience is asked to settle in and wait for a dim light at a seemingly endless tunnel. "The Grey" is no different. Loosely based on Sarah Palin's life (kidding), the film tells the story of a group of oilrig workers in Alaska.  The members survive a plane crash, only to learn that they've landed near the den of a ferocious pack of wolves. Presented with the choices of freezing to death, becoming dog meat or salvaging supplies and having a go at survival, the group of seven goes with the latter. It's grim stuff, but its not presented in a way that disgusts. The filmmakers explore depression, loneliness, faith, fear and what all of it means with no clear future in sight.

Our hero is John Ottway, played by Liam Neeson, who's experiencing a resurgence of his action hero status with films like "Taken" and "Clash of the Titans" and their respective sequels, each due out this year. Ottway is a flawed man. When s#*t hits the fan, he takes control, but he's not without his own demons. We're clued in to his story through a series of flashbacks to happier times. Although even a root canal could be considered happier than the situation he finds himself in at the moment,  we see time he spent with his father as a kid and a former love interest.

The rest of the bunch is a rugged hodgepodge of ex-cons and tough guys. Joe Anderson, from "Across the Universe," provides the comic relief early on as Flannery; and although his character is a bit of an ass, he's still missed once the wolves start picking people off. Dermot Mulroney as Talget doesn't say much until halfway through the film, but he gives some of the more gut-wrenching moments once he opens up. Frank Grillo gets to have the most fun as Diaz. Diaz is the character you love to hate. He acts tough and has a problem with everyone around, but it's clear he's the most frightened of all. Although the characters all play like standard archetypes, each is allowed the chance to develop, giving way to some truly memorable characters and scenes.

And speaking of wolves, if you weren't afraid of them before, you should be. "The Grey" does for plane crashes in the Alaskan Wilderness what "Jaws" did for Amity Island's tourism business. I say that because The International Wolf Center nominated the film for the 2012 Scat Award, "a new prize to be awarded each year for the worst wolf misinformation in film." By the way, Amity Island doesn't have a tourism business because Amity Island isn't real. The film depicts nature and humanity in their most raw forms and pits them against each other in more ways than one. As much as the film is about a pack of wolves systematically picking apart the intruders, it's also about the lengths one will go to survive – and both of those stories are ugly.

What is not ugly though are the technical achievements of the film. The sound design is excellent. The music builds suspense perfectly, and the sounds of an encroaching blizzard – or worse, a wolf attack – sent shivers down my spine. Director Joe Carnahan uses his environment to great effect, offering wide vistas of the towering mountain ranges. He gets great performances out of everyone, too. At just under two hours, "The Grey" is a meaty film, but it puts its running time to good use. It moves at a brisk pace, slowing down at the right moments to allow the audience to catch its breath and reveal more about our survivors.

What could have been a cheesy B-movie premiering on Syfy and starring Dolph Lundgren is elevated at every turn by great performances, strong suspense and true emotional heft. The topics at hand aren't your typical action fare, and I enjoyed the experience that much more because of it. Hopefully we'll see more gritty, suspenseful films like this in the future.