The Dog Stars

Last night I had another double feature because I am still trying to catch up on movies I missed last weekend.  I started with The Dog Stars and, even though it seems like everyone hated it, I enjoyed it for the most part.  After a worldwide flu decimated most of the population, a former mechanic named Hig (Jacob Elordi) lives in an abandoned airplane hangar with his dog Jasper and a militant former Marine named Bangley (Josh Brolin).  He often flies a small propeller plane to nearby Denver for supplies which, to Bangley's dismay, he shares with a nearby Mennonite community led by Aaron (Benedict Wong).  Bangley is vigilant about keeping outsiders from their land and, much to Hig's dismay, he shoots any who approach from his lookout tower.  Their difference of opinion about the nature of humanity leads Hig to leave in search of a radio signal coming from from Grand Junction.  He is forced to land his plane in a meadow after experiencing mechanical failure and encounters a suspicious rancher named Jake (Guy Pearce) and his daughter Cima (Margaret Qualley).  They reluctantly help him fix his plane so he will leave them in peace but are forced to escape with him when their farm is attacked by raiders.  They eventually arrive in Grand Junction only to discover a cannibalistic group under the control of a psychotic former flight attendant named Darlene (Allison Janney).  Hig ultimately decides to return to Bangley rather than continue to look for other people.  I really loved the beautiful cinematography, especially all of the flying sequences over the mountains and lakes of Colorado, and there are some dynamic action set pieces when the raiders attack.  Elordi gives a sensitive performance as a man trying not to lose his compassion for people and Brolin is having a lot of fun as a man willing to do whatever it takes to survive.  I found the push and pull between the instinct for self-protection and the need for connection to be very compelling and I liked the more contemplative pace (not everything needs to be explicitly spelled out for the audience).  However, the tonal shift that happens during the scenes in Grand Junction is so jarring that they seem like they are in a different movie and the message is really muddled by the time we reach the happy conclusion with the Mennonites.  Both episodes are very different from the novel and I wish the movie had maintained the vibe of the first two acts because that is what worked for me.  Still, I didn't dislike it and think it is better than some critics would suggest.