Take 88: Heart of the Beast
In Heart of the Beast, Special Forces officer James Belmont) and his military dog, Odin (Uber II) are living up their retirement camping, hunting, fishing in rural Alaska. Both havre been through A LOT, Belmont suffering from wearing-and tear to this body, Odin now sporting a prosthetic leg and titanium teeth, and both, suffering from PTSD from rough military stints. Unfortunately, their rest and relaxation is cut short when the area where they are lodging is in the path of a storm. In order to avoid the storm, Belmont loads their belongs into his seaplane in hopes of getting the pair out harms away only to have things get infinitely worse- Belmont suffers a heart attack and the plane crash lands and sinks. Already not in the best of health and sixty miles from the nearest main road and armed with only a map, a compass, a knife, and a spear, the duo have to make their way through the Alaskan wilderness and its shear brutality in an attempt to reach help and safety.
This one is a slow burn for sure. In total, it features four characters in total: Belmont, Odin, a former gold miner named Watkins (J.K. Simmons) and Amber, a young woman who plays prominently at the beginning and end of the story. That’s it. Watkins and Ambers play a truly minor role. This really is Belmont and Odin’s story. We spend the entire film with these two and really feel as though we have gone through this entire harrowing experience with them. By the end, I was exhausted.
We already know Brad Pitt is a good actor. His resume is impressive. You expect him to deliver. And he does. This guy is severely damaged from combat in both body and soul. Every time his body is jostled and battered, I gasped audibly because he sold it so convincingly. I just wanted to bubble wrap the guy every time he endures a physical hardship and there are so many. And man, does he look rough. I mean, at the end of the day, he is still Brad Pitt, but here he does look worn about and haggard. He go there. This is not the Brad Pitt I most recently saw in Bullet Train. The pretty boy swag in not where to be found. This guy really is just trying to survive the next 24 hours for himself and possible even more so for his dog.
What is surprising I the performance of his co-star. Good grief, can animals be nominated for Academy Awards? It’s easy to forget that this is a movie and this dog is getting tons of direction (and treats I’d imagine) to perform and he gives an amazing performance. This dog is called upon to deliver all of the emotions. Happiness.Sadness. Fear. Trepidation. Worry. Stress. Loyalty. All of them, nailed. The whimpering. The sad eyes. The alert and anxious panting on cue- all there.
The acting is fantastic. The story is engaging. As good as those are, for me, it’s a tad slow.There is a lot of setup. It’s good setup and all essential for the plot. We really do need it all because once the action starts, it’s pretty much on until the end. So if I have a knock, that was my minor attempt.
It’s good, but kinda hard to get through. You could ask for more sympathetic protagonists. But seeing what they are forced to go through is hard. I guess it’s some consolation that the struggle is pure man vs. nature, but being reminded of how cruel and inevitable nature can be in this case does not endear me to multiple viewings
But for that one time, definitely a.ride worth taking. And at least for me, it DID make me want to pat my dog's head a little more than usual…
My score: 8
And what does your heart say? Yay or nay? Leave it in th le comments. And until next time…
