HEART OF THE BEAST – Review by Valerie Kalfrin
Brad Pitt goes through the wringer in the survival drama Heart of the Beast, but his canine co-star runs off with the movie.
That’s perhaps fitting, as the film includes a dedication to combat scouting dogs like the German Shepherd portrayed here who assist the military on harrowing missions.
Their mission days are behind them as Special Forces veteran James Belmont (Pitt, F1: The Movie) and his dog, Odin, fly a seaplane around the Alaskan wilderness. The two set up camp at a secluded spot along a lake for some fishing and solace in nature, both suffering from night terrors. Odie has a prosthetic leg and titanium teeth from injuries in the field, part of the special effects team’s handiwork.
When James suffers a heart attack after taking off from their getaway, the plane crashes—a disturbing sequence for a PG-13 film, with Odie ripped from the cockpit—leaving this solitary man searching for his only friend left in the world. Although Odie survives that trauma, the two are roughly 50 miles from any roadway, forced to hike for help.
Reuniting Pitt with his Fury director David Ayer (who’s lately helmed the Jason Statham action flicks A Working Man and The Beekeeper), Heart of the Beast features some action and suspense as the two encounter rapids, wolves, and other perils. But it’s more an introspective two-hander along the lines of 2011’s elegiac The Grey. (J. K. Simmons of Purgatory appears briefly in the early moments for James to provide some exposition about him and Odie that sepia-toned flashbacks handle just fine.)
The pacing is occasionally slow over an hour and 41 minutes, but the screenplay by Cameron Alexander and Pitt’s tempered performance create a compelling portrait of a man not ready to face mortality until he’s sure the creature he calls “the greatest love of my life” is safe and well. Odie—played principally by a German Shepherd named Uber—reciprocates this emotion and drive through protective stances, attentiveness, and nuzzling affection. Pitt and the dog trained together, contributing to their chemistry. When the taciturn James weeps and hugs the dog after a touch-and-go moment, it hit me hard, as did a third-act voiceover.
Oscar-winning cinematographer Mauro Fiore (Avatar, The Killer) balances wide shots of Pitt and the dog against snow-capped mountains, tawny fields, and dense forests (New Zealand stands in for Alaska here) with more intimate closeups, from the two curled up in their tent to lying under the stars or the northern lights. At times the light reflects the dog’s eyes in such a way that we sense the care and trust he has for James, something pet owners especially will appreciate. He is the best boy, a companion worthy of all the goodness he can get. This beast’s heart is fierce, James says at one point, but Heart of the Beast looks deeper to a connection of the soul.
