BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The saying that a dog is a man’s best friend is an adage that has been used for ages. The new Brad Pitt film, “Heart of the Beast” gives compelling evidence that an argument can be made that a dog’s best friend is a man. Either way, the connection Pitt’s character and Odin (played by a dog named Uber) have in the film is deep and touching. It goes right up to the line of overly sentimental but never crosses it.
Their story starts in a remote area of the Alaskan wilderness where James Belmont (Pitt) and Odin have flown into an isolated bay to escape the world. They are also looking for some emotional relief as both are only two years out of military services that left them physically and emotionally scarred. Odin often suffers from PTSD nightmares
After a brief encounter with a world-weary traveler (J.K. Simmons), who is in the story to fill in the backstory for the pair, James and Odin decide to fly home. The trip goes horribly wrong when James suffers a heart attack and the plane crashes. Both survive but they are 58 miles from any sign of civilization with nature’s deadliest foes in their way…