HEART OF THE BEAST
by Victoria Alexander
Leonardo DiCaprio had a bear, Ryan Gosling had a puppet and Brad Pitt has Odin.
James (Brad Pitt) is piloting a Cessna in Alaska with his devoted German Shepherd, Odin.
James’s craft has everything for a man and his dog to spend several weeks in the wilderness.
And here is where we learn how to survive: the blow-up tent, the lawn chair and the two heavy trunks, a cooler with exotic beers and enough firepower to kill a bear.
James and Odin have a unique bond. James was an Army Special Forces soldier, and Odin was his specially trained scout dog. Odin was wounded and wears a harness for a leg injury sustained in a firefight.
With James and Odin suffering from combat nightmares, their time in the wilderness is the perfect retreat. This is clearly how James and Odin spend their time, with Odin catching fish when James fishes for dinner.
James has a strong relationship with Odin, and when another camper (J.K. Simmons) appears - for the necessary exposition – we hope he leaves pre-dawn.
James treats Odin, not as a pet, but as a fellow soldier. And here is where dog owners will love this film. And those of us without a dog now want one. (I spoke to someone who purchased a rare breed dog. She told me the dog spent 4 weeks in Utah for training. It cost her $5,000.) James cares deeply for Odin, massaging the tip of his lost leg; but this is not a weepy story of “man with his devoted companion.”
With a storm approaching, James packs up the Cessna. He has a heart attack, and the Cessna crashes in the water. Odin knows how to rescue a fallen soldier. There is only so much stuff James can retrieve from the submerged plane. The idyllic, isolated wilderness retreat now takes on an unexpected twist.
James is not heroic; he needs to make it out of the wilderness with Odin by his side. It’s a 58-mile mission. James falls in the rapids as Odin runs the length of the raging rapids to find James and pull him to safety. This team encounters a grizzly bear, and they fight off a group of wolves who have circled them.
Directed by David Ayer, HEART OF THE BEAST is a fantastic thriller. Pitt brings a commanding presence to the dangers they are facing. Ayer and Pitt give James a truly unique relationship with Odin. Pitt carries the film, understanding the discipline of James. He does not treat Odin as a pet. This is Pitt in a perfect film that displays his skill as an actor.
I want to believe that it was actually Pitt in the rapids. I want to believe that Pitt trained with a survival expert and spent time bonding with Odin. It appears that HEART was a tough film to make, and Pitt masterfully gives us a complete character – alone – facing impossible odds.
“The ALL is Mind; The Universe is Mental.”
Rotten Tomatoes Certified Critic since 1998. For a complete list
of Victoria Alexander's movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes go to:
Principal Reviewer for FilmsInReview: filmsinreview.com
Member of Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Personal email: victoria.alexander.lv@gmail.com
“The Alexander UFO Religious Crisis Survey: The
Impact of UFOs and Their Occupants on Religion”
Author: Victoria Alexander
Sponsored by The Bigelow Foundation
Comments