In the touching narrative arc of Heart of the Beast, James, played by Brad Pitt, holds his faithful German Shepherd Odin, played by Uber and 3 other dogs. He looks at Odi and says, “You are the greatest joy of my life.” I cried. On the surface, Director David Ayer’s Heart of the Beast is the unrelenting tale of survival in the Alaskan wilderness. Heart of the Beast is truly the timeless great love story.
I believe the greatest love is when you will die for the one you love. That’s James and Odi’s forever bond. That started in combat in Afghanistan, when Green Beret Master Sargent James Belmont got combat trained dog Odin. Their love and loyalty for each other is unconditional and powerful. Uber honestly deserves an Oscar nomination for playing Odin, Heart of the Beast is his story in Cameron Alexander’s surprisingly nuanced screenplay. Yes, so does Brad Pitt.
Brad Pitt acts his ass off in one of his most poignant performances as James Belmont. Much like Tom Cruise in Rain Man, Tom supported Dustin Hoffman’s Raymond (Rain Man). Dustin’s Raymond was the showier role, but that doesn’t work without Tom’s Charlie Babett. Although Odin is the star of Heart of the Beast, Brad Pitt makes you feel their genuine love story in your soul.
There’s an old acting adage: Never work with children or animals. Brad dismissed that to give one of his best performances. For nearly the entire movie, it’s just Brad and Uber and it’s heartfelt humanity. I teared up when Brad’s James hugged Odin when he awakes in the throes of his PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). James and Odin help heal each other.
As Heart of the Beast opens Amber, played by beautiful compassionate Anna Lambe, stops her truck when she sees Odin with his prosthetic leg standing in the middle of the isolated road. That’s David Ayer and Cameron Alexander’s sad foreshadowing. Then David flashes back 1 week earlier as James and Odin prepare for their trip into the Alaskan wilderness. Retired Special Forces Officer James is a biplane pilot.
James and Odin take trip into the remote woods of Alaska “to get in some trouble”. James helps Odin heal from his PTSD. Really, they heal each other from the trauma and death both shared in the battle field. Cameron Alexander brilliantly shades their narrative when James and Odin meet Watkins, played by whimsically wise J.K. Simmons, in the middle of nowhere.
Aside from his prosthetic leg, Odin has titanium teeth. James told Watkins that a target threw a brick at Odin and hurt his leg, too. Watkins wryly said, “I hope you gave that fella a piece of your mind.” James pets Odi. He sublimely said, “I shot him in the head.” Watkins got it. We get it. James and Odin’s love for each other is strong.
Watkins leaves a book for them at the camp. There’s a passage about the inhumanity of man that both James and Odin endured in war. It reads: “It’s not who you live for. It’s who you die for.” That’s honor. That’s respect. That’s James and Odin’s love for each other.
James, who keeps holding his left arm, has a heart attack while flying back home. In the moment of great disbelief in Cameron Alexander’s screenplay, Odin is ejected during the crash, and James somehow frees himself from his plane when it lands underwater in a river. I rolled with that narrative, because I was fully invested in James and Odin.
James is so happy finding Odin after the crash, and nurses him back to health. Odin saves James when he falls into the raging rapids. They will die for each other in a heartbeat. Using his Special Forces Survival skills, James calculates that they have to walk 58 miles to the nearest road. Predictably and dramatically in David Ayer and Cameron Alexander’s narrative journey, James and Odi overcome unbelievable hardships and obstacles.
Brad Pitt gives the amazing and sublime performance of his life. He’s there by myself with his dog Odin. When he talks to Odin there is nothing, but hope and love. Honestly, that touched my heart more than any movie I’ve seen this year. Their profound courage and resilience display as they fight the pack of vicious wolves. James is injured very badly. Self-aware, James gently looks at Odin, “One last mission.”
In the eloquent narrative arc, Amber reads the letter from James in Odin’s combat vest. He writes, “It’s time for him (Odin) to know peace.” I cried again. I think that James finds his peace in Heart of the Beast. He just wants the same for his dearest friend Odin, the great joy of his life. We should all be that fortunate to have someone like that in our lives. It’s never all about us. It’s all about the one that you love. That’s love. That makes Heart of the Beast one of my very Favorite Movies of the Year. David Ayer, Brad Pitt, and Odin made something very special. Thank you.
