We’ve had good boys saving the world, good boys surviving the end of the world, and now we’ve got good boys traversing the American wilderness with their best friends.
As a dog lover, it’s been a year peppered with man’s best friend, and I’m absolutely here for it. The latest good boy to grace our screens is Odin, starring alongside Brad Pitt in Heart of the Beast, a simple, back-to-basics survival thriller directed by David Ayer (Fury, Suicide Squad and Bright – we’ll ignore those last two).
After surviving a plane crash, former special forces soldier James Belmont (Brad Pitt) finds himself stranded in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness with his combat dog, Odin. Together, they must battle the elements and the dangers lurking in the landscape, facing conditions that would likely spell the end for any lesser man or dog.
At just over 90 minutes, Heart of the Beast is another example of Hollywood slowly doing away with lengthy epics. Much like this year’s dinosaur thriller The End of Oak Street, it moves swiftly through a relatively straightforward story, penned by Cameron Alexander in his feature-film screenwriting debut.
And while the plot is undeniably light on complexity – man and dog fight for their lives in the wilderness – there’s a beautiful relationship at its heart. The bond between Belmont and Odin is joyful in its louder moments and deeply emotional in its quieter ones. In fact, some scenes in the final third are genuinely wonderful, and will certainly give dog owners paws for thought the next time they cuddle up with their own four-legged companions.
Odin steals the show
Pitt is his ever-reliable self as Belmont, a retired soldier struggling with PTSD, but make no mistake: this film belongs to Odin, and Pitt knows it. Played by four different dogs throughout the film, this German Shepherd is an absolute star. Alongside Jasper from this year’s The Dog Stars, Odin is one of the most memorable movie canines to grace our screens in recent years.
It’s also worth noting just how impressively small the cast is, with only four characters throughout the entire film. One of them is J.K. Simmons, who delivers a typically nuanced and understated performance. Even with limited screen time and a relatively small role, Simmons brings a quiet depth to the character, serving as a reminder that you don’t need a sprawling ensemble to make a lasting impression.
Unfortunately, while the film beautifully captures the relationship between man and dog, it occasionally comes undone when it comes to the script. At its best, the writing is perfectly serviceable; at its worst, it’s downright ridiculous.
Are we really supposed to believe that an injured soldier and his canine companion can take on an entire pack of wolves and live to tell the tale? Apparently so. And despite Belmont and Odin’s military credentials, the scene feels wildly implausible. Even Liam Neeson left a little more to the audience’s imagination.
Thankfully, there’s plenty to admire elsewhere. Much like The Dog Stars before it, Heart of the Beast is a stunning, landscape-driven film. Ayer captures the sheer scale and vastness of the wilderness, making the environment feel as much an adversary as anything Belmont and Odin encounter along the way. Filmed in New Zealand, the landscapes make for an exceptionally beautiful stand-in for the Alaskan wilderness.
Landscapes worth getting lost in
Ultimately, Heart of the Beast is a film that every dog owner will find something to relate to, and that emotional connection is one of the most powerful tools a film can have in its arsenal.
In a clever bit of screenwriting that I won’t spoil here, the film opens in such a way that allows a collective sense of calm to wash over its audience. It’s a lovely touch, even if the script doesn’t quite maintain that same level of maturity throughout.
But perhaps that’s okay. Heart of the Beast isn’t a film to be picked apart with logic or scrutinised for its more outlandish moments. It’s a film to watch with your heart, not your head.
An enjoyable canine companion movie that, against all odds, really does stick with you. that really does stick with you.
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