Director: David Ayer
Writers: Cameron Alexander
Stars: Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Anna Lambe
Synopsis: After a harrowing plane crash, a Special Forces officer and his combat dog find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.
There needs to be a mild spoiler here, so skip this paragraph if you are not interested in that kind of direct plot detail. It’s hardly a spoiler as it happens a handful of minutes into the movie, but it is a plot point, so the warning is in place. This “spoiler” is only mentioned to set domestic animal lover’s minds at ease. We are given a scene at the beginning of the film of Odin (Uber), our dog friend, standing on a lonely country road with a person approaching him. After the close up of Odin’s eyes, we see a title on the next scene that reads, “One Week Earlier,” so yes, Odin survives this ordeal. With that said, Heart of the Beast still has a great deal of tension and suspense to keep us on the edge of our seats for the rest of the run time.
Humans, as a species, have created a society that keeps us from having to fight for survival. There are human systems within the human world, which absolutely create difficulties and challenges to the individual’s survival, but by and large we don’t have to sleep with one eye open. That’s why we go into the woods, or the bush, or any place without human inhabitants. We want to feel that closeness to other organisms, our planet, and the life cycle that keeps the natural order of things. We go to play at survival or to just try and find peace amongst our fellow sentient Earthlings. Though, it isn’t a controlled environment and as James (Brad Pitt) and Odin learn, there are variables even the most prepared can’t account for.
This is the biggest detriment to the film and Cameron Alexander’s script, though. Yes, James is the toughest of the tough. Yes, he is a man who can think quickly and competently about what he needs to do in order to survive. Though, by the third or fourth time he hits his head on something hard or is pulled underwater for too long, it borders on incredulity. The heart attack that puts James and Odin into this situation in the first place felt like it should have been the end, but it’s just one more thing for James to power through. Thankfully most of this is shown not told, so that we don’t have to have a hand wavy tough guy explanation. Alexander’s script gives us a lot of room to breathe and to understand.
If director David Ayer had written the script, it would have been filled with his usual talky manly man machismo which would have ruined this film. There’s only one scene that has some of this when James and Odin sit down with Watkins (J.K. Simmons). It’s there for us to avoid feelings and embrace bravado. Ayer instead creates a tension filled film with excellent action sequences from Alexander’s words. Ayer, along with cinematographer Mauro Fiore, show the harshness that belies a land of such beauty. The lushness of some scenes makes you feel as if you can smell the alpine trees and feel the spray of the cold water. They can also make you want to pet a very good boy.
While Brad Pitt is good, and is falling into a comfortable groove playing quiet, stoic types, Uber is the real star. The film finds itself more often than not in Odin’s perspective. It feels like it’s his story rather than James’ even if we are meant to identify with James more. Head dog trainer Esther Murphy has done an exceptional job here. Uber is a stellar animal actor. He conveys so much with the look of his beautiful honey eyes and, likely done later, a guttural groan or two. How much of this is editing doesn’t matter. The dog is there, he does that look, and steals the show. He’ll go down in the annals of great animal actors.
Heart of the Beast isn’t a perfect film. It isn’t even a great film. Yet, it’s a film that will surprise you with a tenderness and heartfelt warmth. It’s a film that shows that our connection to nature through pets and working animals that we care for is more than just a need for companionship. It’s a deep bond of true love and affection even in the most harrowing of circumstances. The ending is an absolute knock out because of that connection and makes the film worth seeing even if you’re not sold on the man vs. nature survival element.
