Power of the Dog

 Two brothers, George and Phil Burbank, travel across Montana in 1923 on a cattle drive.  They’ve taken this trip several times and stop at the same boarding house toward the end of their run.  The house is run by a widow, Rose, and her son, Peter, who is going to be a doctor like his dearly departed father.  This trip is a bit different, as shortly after arriving this time, the bachelor cowboys split-up and their family dynamic is changed exponentially when the widow marries George.  Brother Phil is what a friend of mine would have called an “odd duck”.  As the film moves along, we get to understand why he’s that way and what he’s really all about when it comes to life on the old range.  He gives a new meaning to breaking bucking broncos and being a bully.  Rose (Kirsten Dunst) is caught in the middle being one, a woman, two, a mother, and three, a newlywed who is a perceived threat to old Uncle Phil.  It’s an absolutely beautiful performance by an actress who is finally given a role that lets her stretch her dramatic chops.  Kodi Smith-McPhee as Peter is creepy, subtle, and cast as the lamb being “led to the slaughter”, he balances perfectly against Benedict Cumberbatch’s Uncle Phil.  I will only watch this once, even though it was a Best Picture nominee.  For all the hype, it is an extremely uncomfortable family film with absolutely stunning scenery.  Rating:  He wore white boots, pink shoelaces, a ten gallon hat and man o’ man.