★★★ (3 out of 4)
How do you resist a love story about a man and dog? Well, audiences resisted pretty hard earlier this year when it came to Jacob Elordi and his canine pal in “The Dog Stars.” My hunch is that “Heart of the Beast” will do much better with Brad Pitt showing real chemistry with a three-legged German Shepherd and vice versa. Both are combat veterans (the pup has a prosthetic leg and titanium teeth) suffering from PTSD that intensifies when their seaplane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness, portrayed here by New Zealand.
Let me say in capital letters before going on: THE DOG DOES NOT DIE. No spoiler. The whole movie is a flashback from the opening scene when the dog, Odin, is watching the driver of a pickup truck (Anna Lambe) approach him on an open road. Then we cut back a week to the survivalist adventure directed with exacting skill and aching heart by David Ayer from first-time screenwriter Cameron Alexander that wrings you out.
The dog does not die. Repeat. The dog does not die.
Pitt stars as James Belmont, a Special Forces/ Navy SEAL vet looking to enjoy a little R&R with his best bud Odin. The scenes of the two playing fetch and enjoying each other are fun except for a tension around the eyes that the two carry around with them. There’s a literal interruption when a stranger, played by the always welcome J.K. Simmons, stops by for a chat. You can see from the expressions on James and Odin that they prefer quiet and the sounds of nature to human chatter boxing.
The plane crash brought on by James’s palpitating heart leaves man and dog 58 miles from the nearest road, with no rescue in sight and nature dead set against them. Besides the grueling trek through treacherous terrain, there are bears and wolves on the prowl. And James sets out to work miracles. Frequent scenes of this pilot scarfing down aspirin show that his cardiac condition is serious even when James make strained efforts to minimize its effect.
Let me say right off that the love connection between Pitt and his costar is off the charts. They make their bond palpable. James prioritizes Odin’s needs over his own, and their mutual reliance carries a reflective, almost spiritual undercurrent, inspired, we’re told, by Psalm 23, that portrays God as a caring shepherd who provides, protects, and guides his people through every season of life. James and Odin need all the help they can get.
Ayer’s films often feature detailed, grounded portrayals of police work, military life, or criminal underworlds, informed by his own experiences in South Central Los Angeles and the U.S. Navy. Pitt and Ayer collaborated before in 2014’s “Fury,” in which Pitt played Sherman tank commander Don “Wardaddy” Collier. Ayer has a militaristic bent that can get out of hand as it does here. But when it comes to the dog action, Ayer can do no wrong.
I won’t tell you if both parties to this love story survive in “Heart of the Beast.” Why spoil that surprise? But don’t hate yourself if you get weepy by film’s end. It’s the combination of tough and tender that makes you want to hold both James and Odin close. I’d call that a happy ending.