The Power of the Dog

Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog is a slow paced, meditative drama set in 1920s Wyoming. Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) is one of the last real cowboys on the land. He’s as rough, tough, dirty, can castrate a bull with just a knife and his bare hands in seconds and looks down on anyone who can’t, including his brother, George. George (Jesse Plemons) is the rounder, cleaner, soft spoken and handles the business end of their cattle ranch. On a cattle drive, the brothers and their ranch hands dine at a restaurant owned by Rose (Kirsten Dunst), where Phil torments her and her son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). While apologizing for his brother, George falls for Rose, marries her and brings her to their ranch to live with them. Phil despises this and is sure Rose only married George for their money. Phil relentlessly torments poor Rose, driving her to drink, a habit she despised in others. After being away at school, Peter comes to the ranch for the summer and notices how far his mother has fallen under Phil’s torment. Yet, Phil tries to reach out to Peter. Perhaps he sees a bit of himself in the skinny, awkward young man and wants to help him learn to ride and fit in with the cowboys. Phil even wants to make Peter a rope, and Peter eagerly provides him enough rawhide to finish it. 

The acting in this film is absolutely superb. Cumberbatch does not seem the type to play a cowboy and yet he slips into this role so perfectly. The way he disappears into the grime, torment and hard exterior of Phil is amazing. And then as we see Phil in his alone, intimate moments, Cumberbatch expresses a repressed longing inside of Phil and we understand his motives more. Dunst is beautifully raw as a widowed mother who lives in torment, grows more and more unsure of herself and turns to drinking to cope. Every scene with the piano is so emotional and feels more and more raw as that plot arc moves.   Plemons’s character becomes an intriguing opposite to Cumberbatch’s Phil, clean, quiet and trying to please everyone around him and yet looking away, or perhaps blissfully unaware of the real issues lurking around him. 

One of the biggest surprises in this film is Kodi Smit-McPhee. This feels like his first big, complex role as an adult and he nails it. On the surface, he shows this perfect mix of being a loner, out of place and in need of a strong male role model. Yet, hiding underneath he shows that Peter is cold, methodical and smarter than he lets on. I don’t know if Kodi will win an Oscar, especially since he is younger, but I’m excited to see what else he’ll do in his career. 

The Power of the Dog is currently nominated for an impressive twelve Academy Awards. They include best cinematography, film editing, original score, sound, adapted screenplay and production design. Benedict Cumberbatch earned his second nomination for lead actor. Kirsten Dunst earned her first nomination as supporting actress. Jesse Plemons and Koki Smit-McPhee both earned their first Oscar nominations, both for supporting actor. And Jane Campion became the first woman nominated twice for Best Director. Her first nomination for her 1993 film, The Piano. This long list of nominations (the most of any film this year) shows just how magnificent this film is.

I implore you to try to watch The Power of the Dog in a theater or in a completely undistracted environment. A casual viewer who puts on this film as background noise while answering emails cannot appreciate the intricate performances and filmmaking here. It is a film you need to be invested in and paying careful attention to in order to fully understand and appreciate the depths of this film. The beautiful cinematography is often zen-like, the careful, calculated moments from the actors are so telling. Very little is blatantly blurted out and so much is hidden, wrapped up in layers and nuances. It’s a wonderful, captivating film if you go into it ready to be engrossed and captivated. 

“Bronco Henry told me that a man was made by patience in the odds against him.”

ParaNorman

In Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock (voice of Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a boy with an odd gift; he can see and talk to ghosts.  To Norman, it’s nothing scary, but it freaks out everyone else, including his family.  They don’t seem to believe him, though it’s hinted that this sort of thing runs in the family.  It’s worse at school, where Norman is bullied constantly, especially by Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a presumably tough kid that has a great combination of disgusting and creepy.  The only person who believes in Norman’s gift is his friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), a kid who gets bullied for being fat.  Through events that are best not spoiled in a review, Norman starts having visions of his town’s past and has to figure out how to save everyone from a three hundred year old witch’s curse.

Between ParaNorman and Frankenweenie, this has been quite a year to introduce kids to horror films.  While Frankenweenie has more references toward the classic Universal monster era, ParaNorman has frequent references to more modern slasher and zombie flicks.  Halloween is constantly referenced, from the movie Norman is watching the opening scene to his ringtone.  Norman’s room is covered in zombie posters and toys.  I would love a pair of those slippers.

Between the film references, zombie hijinks and Norman’s companions bringing their unique personalities along for the ride, the laughs are fun but not constant.  While The Pirates! was a laugh a minute, ParaNorman keeps the jokes high in the beginning and they cool down when our characters are in more perilous situations.  This works because Norman seems like a more serious kid, often we’re laughing with him.  The climactic moments are too powerful for comic relief.

A few images in ParaNorman may be a bit scary for the littlest ones.  Some scenes feature zombies popping out of their graves, a ghost visiting Norman in a toilet and a powerful otherworldly being trying to attack Norman.  While I didn’t find anything particularly scary, I was honestly blown away by the amazing effect of the witch’s face made out of swirling clouds in the sky.  Whether it was CGI or not, I was genuinely impressed with all the animation and effects in this film.

Most animated films aren’t complete without a little lesson for the kids to grow on.  Here, it’s primarily an anti-bullying message, both in a modern sense and shown with a historical perspective.  There also seems to be brief messages about the importance of reading and history, which would have made Norman’s quest easier at one point.

Overall, ParaNorman is a fun family film with great horror bits.  The story is engaging and smart, though it seems to get muddled around the third act.  But best of all, the quality of animation and imagery is what secures its Oscar nomination.  I really wish I shelled out my cash to see ParaNorman in 3D while it was in theaters.  Such a visual feast.

“Mom, tell the Zombie to stop saying stuff about me!”