Dog’s Movie House: “The Revenant” To Reverential For Its Own Good!

Howdy folks!  It’s The Kendog!

Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant”

There are films that are destined to be Oscar-bait.  Last year’s “Birdman” was one of those films and, while it is entertaining enough, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s film was too stylized for my taste. Well, he’s back with a film that definitely qualifies as Oscar-bait, and unfortunately my enjoyment of the film is not on par with many of my colleagues. “The Revenant” features some incredible scenes and an awards-worthy performance by Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, but it also suffers from long shots of the wilderness that kill the film’s pace and a script that doesn’t develop the characters as well as they should. It makes for a frustrating experience.

“The Revenant” tells the tale of Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), a trapper and guide in the American wilderness during the 1820’s. Working for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Glass and his son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), a Pawnee Indian, are guiding a group of fur trappers through hostile territory. After barely surviving an attack by the Arikara Indians, the group attempts to make their way back to their home base. Unfortunately Glass is attacked and viciously mauled by a massive grizzly bear and left for dead. The individual charged with guarding him and giving him a proper burial, a brutal man named Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) not only neglects his duty but also kills Hawk in the process. Nearly starved and frozen to death, Glass literally pulls himself out of the grave to hunt down Fitzgerald and take vengeance for the death of his son.

This movie should have been a slam dunk with the premise of survival and vengeance at its very core and it would have been a masterpiece had the filmmakers trimmed about a half hour to forty minutes off of the run time. The good stuff here is very good. The opening attack by the Arikara and the subsequent escape by the fur trappers is incredibly filmed and the bear attack as almost worth the price of admission alone. DiCaprio doesn’t get a lot of dialogue in this film (Glass’s throat is slashed during the bear attack), so most of what Glass is all about is communicated with his eyes of his facial expressions. It’s a marvelous physical performance that will definitely get DiCaprio nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. Tom Hardy is also very good as the slimy Fitzgerald, finding just enough humanity in the villain to keep him from being a two dimensional antagonist.

So why isn’t “The Revenant” a masterpiece? For starters, the script (by Inarritu and Mark L. Smith from Michael Punke’s novel) seems more interested in the scenery than in the characters. Glass is a sympathetic figure due to his incredible circumstance, but we never really get to know the man before he faces his challenge. He is described as an incredible guide, but we never really get to see him in his element before all hell breaks loose. His relationship with his son (an invention for the movie) is likewise underdeveloped. In fact, the few times he actually interacts with Hawk before the young Pawnee’s death involves yelling at the boy and cuffing him upside the head. Any affection comes in the form of dreamlike flashback sequences that aren’t enough (for me, anyway) to form an emotional connection with the characters. DiCaprio acts the hell out of his role, but his performance is hampered by a script that is more interested in the hardships of the main character than the character himself.

The other performances are fine for what they are, but only Hardy as the vile Fitzgerald has any narrative staying power. Domhnall Gleeson is fine as Captain Henry, the leader of the expedition who quickly realizes he’s in over his head, but he’s not given a great deal to do. The same goes with Will Poulter as the young Jim Bridger, who comes off as somewhat whiny despite some good scenes with Hardy’s Fitzgerald. Everyone else is pretty much interchangeable.

Pace and lack of character development aside, “The Revenant” is an amazing film to look at. Inarritu’s eye for composition creates some truly beautiful scenes and the wilderness is so vividly shot by ace cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (“Birdman,” “Children Of Men”) that it becomes a character in and of itself.  The production values are first rate and the action sequences are to die for, which makes the film all the more frustrating when these great scenes are separated by such long stretches of boredom.

How much you enjoy “The Revenant” will depend on how much you value style over substance.  It will probably be the big winner at the Oscars this year because the Academy loves Inarritu’s style, but for this reviewer, “The Revenant” will be known as a good film that missed an opportunity to be great.  3 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer!  So Sayeth The Kendog!

“The Revenant” is Rated R for strong frontier combat and violence including gory images, a sexual assault, language and brief nudity.