Seeking isolation and healing, James flies his Cessna Skywagon to a remote Alaskan lake for a camping trip. Along the way, they have a cautious encounter with an outgoing, enigmatic local gold miner named Watkins (J.K. Simmons). Watkins leaves James a philosophical book inscribed with a moving passage about surviving the cruelty of the world and learning love.
When threatening weather rolls in, James takes off in the plane, but mid-flight he suffers a sudden heart attack. He crash-lands in a remote body of water. Though they survive the impact, the plane is a write-off, gear is lost and they find themselves stranded roughly 58 miles from the nearest road through unforgiving terrain.
As they trek through the landscape, James and Odin face a plethora of natural hazards, including a grizzly bear, wolves, high drops into white rapids, broken limbs, freezing, flooded terrain, blood loss, infection and loads more! The dog, when needed to step up, acts heroically - helping his human sidekick of so long and understanding very clearly what is expected of him. As we find out later in the film, the dog has been very highly trained in order to be helpful to humans in combat. There's a very moving finale to the film, which I won't spoil for you, but it may not be quite what you think is coming.
The star of the show is certainly the dog, closely followed by the lovely scenery - which was actually filmed in New Zealand rather than Alaska, much like the film I reviewed last week, Tenzing - but the scenery is simply breathtakingly cinematic. Coming in third is Brad Pitt; sorry, Brad, you were upstaged! He was involved in the production, so most likely knew he wouldn't be particularly stealing every scene when the focus was elsewhere! But the dog, yes, so clearly well-trained for the role, his eyes are amazing, giving communicative stares and some real 'Lassie' moments!
As well as starring as James Belmont, Brad Pitt served as a lead producer through his company, Plan B Entertainment, too. Pitt has long gravitated toward gritty, physically punishing survival narratives and character-driven dramas (such as Ad Astra, Fury and The Revenant, which Plan B produced). The project originated from a spec script that sat in development for years before Paramount Pictures and Ayer picked it up. Pitt reportedly championed the script specifically because it hinged entirely on the non-verbal chemistry between a human lead and a canine actor.
At 62 years old during filming, Pitt insisted on doing the vast majority of his own stunt work during the river rapids and wilderness sequences - perhaps explaining why some clumsy, exhausting tactical errors and physical struggles look genuinely painful rather than slick and Hollywood-polished! Ayer also leaned heavily on practical sets, real river locations and authentic weather conditions to force genuine physical reactions from both Pitt and the canine leads.
It's a well-produced film, well-acted by the small cast and well worth a watch. It's streaming in various countries on various platforms but still only in cinemas in the UK at time of writing. The 100 minutes passed very quickly for me: no clock-watching, lots of tension, adventure and a very enjoyable survival tale which feels reasonably realistic. Recommended.
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