Kodi movie reviews11/20/2022 ![]() ![]() ![]() Rose and her son ( Kodi Smit-McPhee) move in with the brothers, and while George and Rose are happy together, Phil begins to emotionally torment Rose, driving her to drink, and causing issues in the home. The film follows Phil and George (Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons), two wealthy Montana ranchers whose brotherly bond is tested when George marries the widowed Rose ( Kirsten Dunst). If you’re not familiar with The Power of the Dog, it’s based on the 1967 cult novel by Thomas Savage, and takes place at a Montana cattle ranch in 1925. Loaded with fantastic performances (especially Benedict Cumberbatch), an amazing score by Jonny Greenwood, beautiful cinematography by Ari Wegner, and brilliantly helmed by Campion, I can’t recommend this film enough – especially if you like slow-burn stories. “Dog” is not without its faults, but its power is hard to deny.One of the best films I’ve seen this year is writer-director Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. ![]() But there’s plenty to admire here, from the gorgeous Western photography (that’s New Zealand standing in for the Old West) to Cumberbatch’s ferocious performance. ![]() From there, “The Power of the Dog” heads down a dark path of deception, with an ending that hits out of nowhere and leaves the viewer reeling.Ĭampion, who hasn’t directed a movie since 2009’s “Bright Star” and who only comes around now with the frequency of a comet, is assured in her direction and carries the material over its sometimes bumpy terrain. Plemons and Dunst also do fine work - Dunst continues to be a model for longing and sadness - and Smit-McPhee steps up in a big way, wrangling center stage when his character gets the better of Phil, learning his secret by catching him in what Phil thought was a private moment. Cumberbatch’s Phil is a barking menace with an equally vicious bite, and he plays his role with aplomb. “The Power of the Dog” - the title is borrowed from a Bible verse, and the story is based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel - is tightly coiled, with an air of tension that is constantly threatening to boil over. Is Phil perhaps overcompensating for something, repressing something in his outwardly hateful behavior? It doesn’t take a psych major to figure out something is going on beneath the surface. Rated R: for brief sexual content/full nudity Nothing less than that top level of manliness is tolerated, which is what Phil was taught by his mentor Bronco Henry, and it’s why Phil and his gang of hooligan ranch hands torment Peter, who speaks with a lisp and doesn’t measure up to their vaunted level of macho. It’s 1925 and men are men, they get dusty and they rope cattle and they’re damn proud of the stink they collect after a hard day’s work. The root of his anger is what gives Campion’s story its engine, and if its eventual reveal feels a bit obvious, Campion’s handle on the story’s setting - aided by cinematographer Ari Wegner’s gorgeous landscapes and composer Jonny Greenwood’s tense, lush score - helps power this dog along.Īlong with Cumberbatch, there’s Jesse Plemons, who plays Phil’s brother George, whom Phil constantly derides as “Fatso” Kirsten Dunst, Plemons’ real-life spouse, who plays George’s haunted wife Rose and Kodi Smit-McPhee - Nightcrawler in the recent “X-Men” installments - who plays Rose’s effeminate son, Peter, whose arrival on the Burbank family ranch sends tensions, already palpable, soaring. This image released by Netflix shows Benedict Cumberbatch, left, and Jesse Plemons in a scene from "The Power of the Dog." (Kirsty Griffin/Netflix via AP) Photo: Kirsty Griffin, HONS / Associated Pressīenedict Cumberbatch plays one mean son of a gun in “The Power of the Dog,” writer-director Jane Campion’s gritty Western about machismo and bravado on the Montana plains in the 1920s.Ĭumberbatch plays Phil Burbank, a rough and tumble rancher who verbally abuses anyone within earshot. ![]()
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