The Power of the Dog (2021) * * 1/2

Directed by:  Jane Campion

Starring:  Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smith-McPhee

The Power of the Dog is beautifully staged, acted, and photographed at the service of little payoff.   I am of two minds about it as I struggled to attach two and a half stars or three atop this review.   The film is buoyed by Benedict Cumberbatch's best screen performance to date as a bullying, toxic macho cowboy in 1925 Montana who belittles his brother and his new bride while working out his own issues involving his...well I won't spoil it for you.   The Power of the Dog draws favorable and worthy comparisons to...oh, well bringing that movie up will also be a quasi-spoiler.

Cumberbatch's Phil Burbank is an educated, intelligent rancher who shares the ranch with his quieter brother George (Plemons), who is often at the receiving end of Phil's jabs.   When George marries a local widow (Dunst) who moves in with her son Peter (Smit-McPhee) who is off for the summer from medical school.  Phil is frosty early towards Peter before finding he has a lot in common with him.   They form a friendship which doesn't extend to Peter's mother, who takes to the bottle to cope with Phil's harassment.  George takes the higher road when dealing with his brother.   Maybe he understands Phil more than he lets on.

We gather what Phil's problem is, which would surely cause him hassles in 1920's Montana and perhaps even today in such an environment.   With carefully worded insults and putdowns, Phil masks his own self-loathing while attacking those who did nothing to deserve it.   The Power of the Dog takes its time unfolding and soon enough we realize there won't be a satisfactory payoff to this.   It just...ends.   Is that the idea?  

Jane Campion has previously directed other such films which explore family and sexuality in quiet, meandering ways (The Piano is one such movie starring Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin in Oscar-winning performances).   Cumberbatch may find himself with a Best Actor Oscar statuette at the end of awards season.  The Power of the Dog can't be faulted for the performances or its production values.  It looks gorgeous.  Does the story match how it looks?  Eh, not quite.