In David Ayer’s survival thriller, Heart of the Beast, an A-list star and a lovable doggy must survive the brutal Alaskan wilderness on their own, where nary a soul is looking for them.
James Belmont (Brad Pitt) has seen his fair share of humanity at its worst. After years in Army Special Forces, he’s traded war for a quiet life in Alaska, living in isolation with his former combat partner, Odin (Uber), a German Shepherd who retired alongside him after losing a leg in combat. The pair are out in the Alaskan wilderness thanks to James’s seaplane, and as the weather starts to turn bad, they pack up to head home.
As James navigates the rough winds over the backcountry, his chest locks up. He’s having a heart attack. He blacks out at the controls, and with no one flying the plane, it crashes hard into the woods and into an icy lake. Both James and Odin barely survive the crash. James builds a shelter nearby and pulls his gear trunks from the sunken plane. As Odin regains his strength, James calculates that the nearest sign of civilization is a highway 58 miles away. Nobody is coming to get them, so they have to make the trek.
Even though the pair survived heavy fire in the Middle East, the Alaskan wild doesn’t hand out free passes. A wolf pack zeroes in on them. A raging river sweeps James downstream and slams him into the rocks, breaking his arm clear through the skin. With James nursing a busted arm and a bad heart, will our pair find the strength and determination in one another to get back home?
A battered James Belmont shares a quiet moment with Odin in the forest in Heart of the Beast.
“As Odin regains his strength, James calculates that the nearest sign of civilization is a highway 58 miles away.”
Let me give you the one negative about Heart of the Beast. It’s highly predictable. If I asked you to guess how it ends, you’d probably get it in one try, particularly if you’re a fan of survival films, or dog films for that matter. The opening moments fill you with dread, because that crash is coming at any moment. Then it’s one bad thing after another, and there are no surprises if you’ve ever camped in the forest.
That said, I really enjoyed this movie. Coming off F1, Brad Pitt continues with another film where he plays his suave, cool self with a heart of gold. It’s not just about surviving but about being there for his best friend, who suffers from severe PTSD. Odin is also an extremely lovable character. Plus, he’s a doggy — loyal to a fault. The best moments of the film are when the two work together to escape each scene’s harrowing predicament.
I complain a lot about predictable films. The problem with most is that you’re way ahead of the story. In Heart of the Beast, I may have been ahead of the story, but I was engaged with what was happening on screen. I picked up a few survival techniques for staying warm and mending injuries. I also learned that it’s helpful to have military survival training and to carry rifles and sharp knives to ward off predators, including creepy old men who look like J.K. Simmons.
Heart of the Beast departs from other survival films like The Dog Stars, The Weight, and 28 Years Later. It ends with sweetness and hopefulness, and it focuses on its central theme of friendship and loyalty. David Ayer’s tale is thrilling, has repeat-viewing value, and earns a solid recommendation.
"…guess how it ends, you'd probably get it in one try..."
