‘Heart of the Beast’ review: I wanted to love Brad Pitt’s new survival thriller. Then it got really cheesy
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I’m not a dog person, but I understand the reluctance of some animal lovers to watch a movie with a pet in peril, and clearly the filmmakers behind “Heart of the Beast” do, too. They know their audience, and they make sure to open the movie with a flash-forward featuring military-trained German Shepherd Odin emerging from the Alaskan wilderness to encounter a friendly driver (Anna Lambe). Thus, when the story flashes back to a week earlier and Odin and his owner, James Belmont (Brad Pitt), face grave danger, viewers can rest easy knowing that the loyal dog will make it out alive.
Tom’s Guide Verdict: “Heart of the Beast”
- Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
- Verdict: Although it features some tense moments and strong performances from both Brad Pitt and Odin the dog, this survival drama about a military veteran and his canine companion stranded in the wilderness is cheesy and unconvincing, and disingenuous in its messaging.
- Where to watch: Opens in theaters Sept. 25
That’s considerate of the sensitive dog owners in the audience, but it’s also indicative of the safe, obvious and frequently hokey tone of director David Ayer’s survival drama. There are moments when “Heart of the Beast” is stark and tense, even with the knowledge of Odin’s survival, but far too much of it is predictable and borderline sappy, especially when it veers uncomfortably close to military propaganda territory at the end.
There’s nothing here as offensively manipulative as garbage like “A Dog’s Purpose” or “A Dog’s Way Home,” but “Heart of the Beast” also pales in comparison to gripping stories of lone men against the elements, like “All Is Lost” or “127 Hours.”
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‘Heart of the Beast’ is best when it keeps things simple
There’s no need for an elaborate backstory in order to understand the stakes for James and Odin, and “Heart of the Beast” doesn’t bother with lengthy setup. The movie opens with the pair gliding above the open expanse of nature in James’ small two-seater plane, which he lands on the water next to a lovely, isolated spot. The dialogue is minimal, and there’s only one brief stretch of the movie in which James interacts with another human.
At first, James’ camping trip is idyllic, as he goes fishing and birdwatching and cooks for himself and his dog. He’s wary when he comes across a grizzled retired miner played by J.K. Simmons, but he eventually lets his guard down enough for the two men to share a beer and some conversation. James is an Army Special Forces veteran, and so is Odin, and both of them carry physical and emotional scars. It’s a bit silly when Odin has his own PTSD episode, complete with wartime sound effects, but Ayer and the animal trainers imbue the dog with its own soulful presence.
The miner warns James about an impending storm, but it’s not the weather that causes problems on the flight home. After navigating through the clouds, James has a heart attack and passes out, and the plane goes down, 50-plus miles from the nearest road. No extra challenges are needed in order to make the trek to safety suspenseful and thrilling, and Ayer and screenwriter Cameron Alexander resist sensationalizing the story, at least for a little while.
‘Heart of the Beast’ gets cheesier as it goes along
There’s plenty of tension in just watching James dive to the bottom of a lake to retrieve his supplies from the submerged plane, and one of the most exciting sequences involves an attempt to cross a ravine over a surging river via a pair of fallen logs. Eventually, though, Ayer throws in some poorly rendered CGI predators, which are more distracting than menacing, especially in a clumsy scene in which James and Odin are attacked by a pack of wolves.
Heart attack aside, James persists through an absurd amount of injury and fatigue, and Odin is equally hardy, despite his use of a prosthetic leg. That’s standard for this kind of survival story, but it stretches credibility over time, and Ayer tugs on the audience’s heartstrings further via sepia-toned flashbacks to James and Odin’s service in an unnamed foreign country.
It’s the kind of heavy-handed pseudo-patriotic sentimentality one might expect from a Peter Berg/Mark Wahlberg movie, and Ayer isn’t any better at making it convincing.
Verdict: ‘Heart of the Beast’ is more corny than rousing
Ayer’s films are often full of macho bluster, from the urban crime of “Street Kings” and “Sabotage” to the Jason Statham action of “The Beekeeper” and “A Working Man” to his previous Pitt collaboration, the World War II drama “Fury.” “Heart of the Beast” is gentler, but it’s still aimed squarely at the middle-aged dad demographic (it’s no mistake that James spends time wearing a Bass Pro Shops T-shirt).
Pitt is appropriately gritty as James, and he’s allowed himself to age more naturally than his peer and one-time co-star Tom Cruise, but this is still a simplistic fantasy. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it weren’t for the movie’s final moments, which might as well be a military recruitment PSA.
Over the lovely Alaskan vistas (actually New Zealand) and Jared Michael Fry’s treacly score, “Heart of the Beast” offers a final disingenuous message of sacrifice. Even dog lovers who are shedding a tear over Odin’s bravery may find it distasteful.
“Heart of the Beast” opens Sept. 25 in theaters
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