‘Heart of the Beast’ Review: Brad Pitt Is a Veteran Stranded With His Combat Dog in David Ayer’s Stirringly Crafted Survival-in-the-Wild Saga

Ayer and Pitt (both producers on the film) have teamed up to make something that isn’t so far removed, in form and spirit, from an old-school Disney movie. But the real surprise of “Heart of the Beast” is how well-made it is. Ayer draws on his logistical talent, and even his taste for violence, to craft a tale of survival that makes us feel the pain, the fear and the hardship, the stakes of what it takes to battle nature.