The Dog Stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟) is Ridley Scott’s best film of the decade. There will be people who will try to convince you that this movie isn’t worth seeing: don’t believe them. Only months away from turning 90, Scott just demonstrated that he’s still totally capable of making a damn good summer hit. I’m sort of astonished by Scott’s filmmaking here, especially at this stage of his life. But while I loved the things Scott does with this movie, I can’t run from the fact that the The Dog Stars suffers from one massive flaw, and that’s Jacob Elordi. He’s miscast in this film & fails to deliver a strong leading man performance. In other words, Elordi holds The Dog Stars back from being a top tier Ridley Scott film.
The plot here is extremely straightforward & I won’t spend much time going into detail on it. Elordi plays Hig, a pilot in Colorado who survived a flu pandemic & is now living in an abandoned airport with his dog Jasper & a batshit armed survivalist named Bangley (Josh Brolin - who is fucking excellent here, I can’t emphasize that enough & will touch on him more). The whole crux is that Hig is depressed with this post apocalyptic life, decides to leave his base with Bangley in search for something new, and eventually stumbles upon other survivalists - Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her father (Guy Pearce).
Scott’s filmmaking is breathtaking. The shots of Hig flying throughout the mountains, the vast sweeping outdoor landscapes, and above all, the sequences shot at night, are all reminders that Scott is quite literally one of Cinema’s most accomplished directors. I didn’t like Napoleon nor did I like Gladiator II because I felt those movies were made 1) quickly and 2) at a scale that was too big for its own good. The Dog Stars doesn’t fall into any of those traps. This is a far more intimate film from Scott & allows him to paint broadly across the canvas. On at least two occasions in this film, especially in the back half, Scott gives us jaw-dropping action. If there’s one criticism I have specific to Scott, it’s that I wish he would’ve found a way to include more action & more combat. Those sequences - especially with Brolin- are outstanding.
Speaking of Brolin, this entire cast (outside of Elordi) crushes it. Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Josh Brolin & Allison Janney could not be better in this movie. In particular, Brolin. Every moment he’s on screen is electric & he’s given a character with both a comedic & violent edge. Then there’s Qualley & Pearce, who play a daughter-father combo beautifully. I thought Qualley gave such a vulnerable, measured performance.
But all of that leads into my chief complaint & the reason I can’t give this film more credit and that’s Jacob Elordi. The entire cast acts circles around him. Moments in which Elordi shares dialogue with Brolin/Pearce/Qualley are all noticeable in that Elordi can’t really hold his own. A huge part of this film hinges on spending time with Elordi’s character - he’s our eyes and ears as an audience. And quite frankly, everything he does feels either forced or incredibly boring. His line delivery took me out of the film, his mouth was basically open the entire movie, and everything about his performance felt one dimensional. And that one dimensional performance is magnified when put next to nuanced performances like Brolin, Pearce or Qualley. I think Elordi is a good actor, I’m not here to throw the baby out with the bath water. But it’s undeniable that he’s this film’s biggest weakness & he absolutely holds this back from being a Ridley Scott classic. If you’re able to ignore Jacob Elordi & embrace Ridley Scott, I think you’ll enjoy The Dog Stars as much as I enjoyed it.
I don’t want Ridley Scott to ever stop making films. I don’t want to live in a world where a new Ridley Scott film isn’t on the horizon. Just seeing his name in the opening credits felt…right. And to give us a film that actually hits? Cinema is, was, and always will be Ridley Scott.
La leyenda Clint Eastwood se ha retirado oficialmente de la actuación y de la dirección con 96 años tras 70 largos años de carrera cinematográfica. Jamás podremos agradecerle lo suficiente todo lo que nos ha brindado con sus películas.
Descanso muy merecido Clint ❤️.