Cast: Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Uber, Seeka, Ryker, and Hondo Review by Carol Allen
James Belmont (Brad Pitt) is a retired US forces combat veteran. He and Odin (Uber), a highly trained German Shepherd, served together on dangerous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both were injured in combat – James now has a weak heart and PTS, Odin a prosthetic leg and titanium teeth. Now retired and still inseparable, man and dog are spending their time exploring the beautiful land of Alaska in Belmont’s seaplane – actually shot in New Zealand but stunningly beautiful anyway. All is going well until the plane unexpectedly crashes, leaving the two of them stranded in the wilderness trying to find their way back on foot to civilization.
Despite both being well trained to cope with this kind of challenge, it’s still a tough journey. They survive a near attack by a ferocious bear, stared out by Odin. Then there’s a family of wolves who eye them up for dinner and a heart stopping sequence when they are trying to cross a raging river via a rough tree trunk bridge, which ends in disaster. There’s not a lot of dialogue – a scene near the beginning. where they meet an elderly former goldminer (JK Simmons), a chat which fills in a bit of the back story along with some flashbacks of the combat man and dog have faced in the past, plus some scenes of their early relationship, when Odin was being trained, where his younger selves are played by Uber’s own three puppies. Other than that, it’s just man and dog together against the wilderness.
Pitt is very good in the role, particularly when his strength begins to fail under the increasingly dangerous challenges of the freezing wilderness. While Odin/Uber with his expressive eyes and unswerving loyalty, is just heartbreakingly beautiful. The two actors – the human and the canine – appear to have a bond as unshakeable as that of the characters they are playing.
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