R | 2h 6m | Drama, Western | 2021
“Have you figured it out yet, fatso?” Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) asks his brother George (Jesse Plemons), who is soaking in a tub in the bathroom of their gigantic old ranch house. “How many years since we took over the ranch?” Phil queries again as he begins to pluck away on the strings of a banjo.
It’s in this opening scene that we get the first hint that Phil isn’t a very nice man, in writer and director Jane Campion’s slow-moving modern Western, “The Power of the Dog.” The film is based on a 1967 novel by American author Thomas Savage that Campion adapted for the film.
Phil and George couldn’t be more different. While Phil is a grubby cowboy who handles most of the chores and macho duties around the ranch, George oversees the administrative aspect of things. It’s 1925, and the brothers have been running their ranch since 1900.
Even though Phil is a well-educated man, he has embraced the lifestyle of a rough-and-tumble cowboy. He doesn’t like to bathe often, preferring to “stink.” Meanwhile, George is a mild-mannered gentleman. Even though Phil belittles George, even sometimes while in front of their ranch hands, the two brothers make their dysfunctional relationship work.
That is, until they meet a widower named Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst), who runs an inn in the local town. While visiting the establishment, Phil makes fun of Rose’s tall and lanky son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) for being shy and effeminate. Phil’s harassment of her son causes her to break down and cry after Phil leaves. However, George consoles her, and an attraction forms between the two.
Although Phil doesn’t like Rose and Peter, he lets them move into their ranch home after George marries her. While Phil isn’t physically violent toward Rose, he menaces her when George isn’t around, and also he taunts Peter. To Phil, Rose and Peter represent a third wheel that upsets his partnership with his brother—an unwelcome change to their relationship, troubled as it is.
The movie is split up into five chapters, with each chapter showing different aspects of how the characters interact with each other. Rose’s way of dealing with her and her son’s new living arrangements, and Phil’s close proximity, is to drink heavily, which eventually spirals out of control. Although Peter learns of her increased drinking, he doesn’t confront her since he doesn’t want to cause any more stress.
About two-thirds through the movie, things take a dark turn when Peter discovers Phil’s secret swimming spot. The boy comes across Phil’s stash of magazines depicting nude men. Soon after that, Peter sees Phil bathing in the swimming spot. When the latter feels the young man’s prying eyes on him, he chases the youth off.
Good Visuals
This Western drama is handsomely shot it is. Although it was actually filmed in New Zealand, the scenery looks a lot like the rolling plains and mountain ranges of Montana (Montana is nicknamed “Big Sky Country”).But while the scenery is tranquil and gorgeous, the characters leave a lot to be desired. Other than Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons’ roles, no one seems to have much in the way of redeeming values. Even one of the main characters that seemed a good-hearted soul turned out to be a pretty despicable villain.
“The Power of the Dog” is a well-produced, yet bleak Western film that features some bad people doing bad things to each other. It also has some gritty violence and nudity, so just be aware of that if you intend to watch this movie.
