Movie Review: ‘Heart Of The Beast’

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Heart of the Beast is a harrowing story about a retired Special Forces veteran trying to survive a bad week in the wild as he faces storms, wildlife, and a heart attack. His only companion on his journey is a traumatized combat German Shepherd. Thanks to an opening flash-forward, the audience is told up front that the dog survives, leaving only the fate of the veteran up in the air until the very end. It is an emotional roller coaster that had me on the edge of my seat, and I would highly recommend it.

After the brief flash-forward, the movie opens with Retired Special Forces Command Sergeant Major James Belmont (portrayed by Brad Pitt) and his retired combat German Shepherd named Odin flying through beautiful scenery to a remote area of Alaska to camp, hike, fish, etc. They meet a stranger named Watkins (portrayed by J.K. Simmons) who joins them for a night. For the purpose of the story, Watkins is mainly there to get James to reveal some backstory and character development for him and the dog. It is a fun scene that gets the audience emotionally invested. Watkins is a man of his word and leaves before dawn.

James and Odin pack up and fly out when a storm starts to roll in. But not long after takeoff, James suffers a heart attack and crashes the plane into the water. From there, the movie becomes a story of survival and endurance as James, along with Odin, uses his survival skills and fantastic foresight and preparedness to travel over 50 miles on foot to return to civilization.

The opening of the movie gets the audience to care about these characters and then the latter half puts the audience’s emotions through the wringer. Pitt and the dog(s) portraying Odin were fantastic. I am not a “dog person”, but I will admit I shed a tear and held back several more during at least one scene. The scenery and cinematography were beautiful; although the story is one of many examples of why I prefer not to go hiking or camping. Anyway, I thought it was one of the best adventure/survival movies in years and I would highly recommend it.