“Heart of the Beast”: Brad Pitt’s best co-star has four legs

Brad Pitt and Uber the German Shepherd star in "Heart of the Beast,” David Ayer’s survival thriller. — Paramount

Heart of the Beast

Starring Brad Pitt, J. K. Simmons and Anna Lambe. Written by Cameron Alexander. Directed by David Ayer. Opens Sept. 25 in theatres everywhere. 101 minutes. PG

⭐️⭐️ 1/2 stars (out of 4)

Peter Howell

Movie Critic

Who’d have thought Brad Pitt would find a canine co-star with more charisma than his Palm Dog-winning pit bull, Brandy, from “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”?

Pitt has gone and done it with Odin (aka Uber), his fearless German shepherd companion and fellow combat-trauma sufferer in David Ayer’s survival thriller, “Heart of the Beast.” Pitt plays James Belmont, a former U.S. Special Forces officer stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after the plane he’s piloting crashes. The perilous partnership of man and dog is guaranteed to keep hearts racing and tails wagging, although Pitt’s steely gaze is no match for Odin’s soulful stare.

Heart of the Beast” doesn’t dig deeply into character motivation — Pitt barely speaks in it — and the plot by feature screenplay rookie Cameron Alexander is as obvious as a red line drawn across a map. But the story is clever in its own way, especially how it uses two supporting stars to fill in significant narrative gaps.

Canadian Inuk actress Anna Lambe of TV’s “North of North,” soon to be seen in “The Social Reckoning” and the recent TIFF premiere “In the Heart of the South,” plays Amber, a woman who shapes the drama with her brief scenes.

The same goes for J. K. Simmons, whose character, Watkins, looks like a militarized Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings” when he appears out of nowhere in the Alaskan woods, raising “friend or foe?” concerns from Belmont and Odin. (New Zealand doubles for Alaska before cinematographer Mauro Fiore’s expansive lens.)

Watkins is a former gold prospector who loves the splendid scenery and solitude as much as Belmont does. The former is in the picture just long enough to draw out expository info about Belmont’s military past, further revealed in multiple flashbacks.

The back story establishes Odin as Belmont’s loyal companion from pup through maturity and through all kinds of trouble, the latter attested to by the dog’s titanium replacement teeth and prosthetic leg.

The rest of the picture is a straight-up struggle for survival after a medical emergency and bad weather bring Belmont’s plane down in an unforgiving expanse of trees and water, far from civilization. Belmont calculates that he and his dog are 58 miles (93 km) from the nearest paved road and possible rescue. The hazardous trek they embark on brings to mind the last time Ayer and Pitt worked together, on the Second World War tank thriller, “Fury,” 12 years ago.

Pitt brings the requisite Hollywood grit as man and dog face expected wilderness foes, including a giant bear, ravenous wolves and a treacherous crossing over raging rapids.

The digital wild animals are passable and the frothing water is very wet.

But Odin, played by real canines, has personality to spare, conveying fear and courage with such conviction you might wish the Oscar for Best Actor wasn’t limited to humans.