Heart of the Beast

Two former military, both with some PTSD, camp out in the Alaska wilderness. One is James (Brad Pitt), a retired special forces soldier, and the other is a scout dog named Odin, who was injured in action and now has titanium teeth and a prosthetic leg. “The Heart of the Beast” is the term for the area, for its distance from the trappings of civilzation in mileage and difficulty, but it is also a reference to the two souls who would prefer to maintain that distance.

While trying to navigate through a storm, James has a heart attack and crashes his plane. They have to traverse 58 treacherous miles on foot, and this is the story of that journey.

Director of Photography Mauro Fioe (“Avatar,” “Training Day”) shows us both the pristine beauty of the stunning landscape and the ominous danger for even the hardiest of visitors. (For this film, the part of Alaska is being taken by understudy New Zealand, authenticity overtaken by economics.) We can see why James feels happiest there, away from the humanity that created his trauma and the humanity who can never understand what he experienced. He gets to use the skills that kept him alive in a combat zone for a peaceful purpose, just quietly experiencing the wonders of nature. Brief flashbacks to the chaos of combat show us how devastating that experience was for both James and Odin.

The film is bookended with brief scenes featuring the wonderful Anna Lambe of “North of North.” But James has just one encounter with a human, J.K. Simmons as Watkins, a gruff but gracious man very familiar with the area who tells James he has never seen anyone else in “the heart of the beast.” Pitt shows us the sharp contrast between James’ loving interactions with Odin and his awkward reserve with another human, at first not even giving Watkins his name, and than, reluctantly, just his first name. They sit by the fire together, drinking James’ Belgian ale, and Watkins talks about his own life and asks questions not about James but about Odin, to help James open up a bit. As he promises, he is gone before James and Odin wake up the next morning, but he leaves behind a book, highlighting a quote he thinks James will appreciate: “He had survived the worst the world could do to him. He had known the cruelty of man, yet he lives… and the love of man had taken root in his heart.” (The quote is not from a book; it was written for the movie by screenwriter Cameron Alexander. This screenplay, his first filmed feature, was selected from “The Black List,” a high-profile collection of curated quality scripts.)

Each part of the journey brings different dangers, and each tells us something about James and Odin. We see that Odin is important to James because of his courage and sacrifice, because of the loyalty of those who have shared time in battle, and also because James may not be ready to interact with people, but caring for another creature gives him a sense of purpose and accomplisment. Pitt is superb in performance where he is the only human on screen for most of the film. We see James’ skill in the way he evaulates and responds to an increasingly daunting series of challenges. This film may not be an advertisment for Special Forces training, but it may send some audience members to REI, as even after many of his supplies are lost, James somehow seems to have an endless Mary Poppins carpetbag of items he needs when things go badly. We see James’ joy in Odin, his resolve, his grace under pressure, and sometimes the anguish he tries to hide from his canine family. Pitt is terrific with Odin (played by a dog named Uber), making us feel their deep connection. And Odin is up there with Rin Tin Tin and Lassie in his daring and devotion.

Parents should know that this is a story of extreme peril involving falls, a heart attack, a bear, wolves, a plane crash, and near-drowning. There is a very sad death. James uses strong language.

Family discussion: Why was Odin so important to James? What were the most important items James had with him in case of emergency?

If you like this, try: “Megan Levey,” based on the true story of a young Marine corporal and her military combat dog