Film Review: ‘The Dog Stars’ Has Solid Acting and Directing But is Done In By a Weak Script

A Ridley Scott movie can really run the gamut. Sometimes, he crafts a gem. Other times? It more closely resembles a turd. However, he doesn’t usually engage in mediocrity. It’s highs and lows with Scott, which is what makes The Dog Stars such a bummer. This isn’t a terrible film, but it’s not a good one, either. Worse, it’s not particularly enjoyable, so we don’t have much fun to be had in the ways that it’s not good. That’s largely due to Scott not being to blame for the movie not working, but that doesn’t make it any less of a late summer disappointment.

The Dog Stars fails not because of its cast of Scott’s direction, but due to a screenplay that just doesn’t have all that much to offer. The writing is consistently too on the nose, with nothing to say of note, leading to a feeling that everything is very first draft. Perhaps the novel upon which the flick is based just doesn’t translate to the screen? Regardless, what we have here is a riff on The Last of Us, just without any of the depth or perspective.

Taking place in a post apolyptic world, one where a flu like virus has wiped out much of humanity, we meet our protagonist in Hig (Jacob Elordi), a former mechanic and pilot left only with his dog Jasper. Banding together with military survivalist Bangley (Josh Brolin), the pair have carved out an effective existence on an isolated airfield. Hig goes out into the world looking for supplies, as well as signs of humanity, while Bangley defends the homestead, sometimes too eagerly. Aside from a Mennonite community that Hig helps out, much to Bangley’s annoyance, they really have no contact with people, except when deadly Reapers attempt to encroach on their land. When a mysterious radio transmission compels Hig to explore more of the unknown, things change.

Running into engine trouble, Hig lands near a farm run by the gruff Pops (Guy Pearce) and his friendlier daughter Cima (Margaret Qualley). Pops is a lot like Bangley, while Cima has a soulfulness and grief that reminds Hig of himself. Working together, they get him airborne, allowing Hig to head towards the source of that radio transmission, one he hopes could be something to latch onto in the wasteland.

Jacob Elordi leads an underserved yet effective cast. Elordi, alongside Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, and Margaret Qualley, only really gets one note to play, but they each play it well. Elordi is the good guy with a deep hole in his heart. Brolin is the wisecracking tough guy who never wants to admit his affection for his friend. Pearce is also playing a tough, though more of a protective father. Qualley gets a similar wound to play to Elordi’s, but her character has a curiosity to her that’s at least a breath of life into the film. The writing lets them all down, unfortunately, but their work is better than this movie deserves. Supporting players include a wasted Benedict Wong, as well as Allison Janney, who is having fun but is out of a completely different flick. Her sequence is, at best, divisive, and at worst, a gross miscalculation.

Director Ridley Scott does his part, though the adaptation of the Peter Heller novel by Mark L. Smith does not. Characters here consistently talk in exposition or say things that never would be spoken out loud, except for the benefit of the audience. They also do stupid things that would have gotten them killed years ago, without it ever making sense, save for moving the plot along. Smith just never finds the entry point to this tale, rendering it all rote and surface level. Scott’s direction is solid enough, with some good visuals, but he’s in service of too weak a script to have any hope of saving.

The Dog Stars is certainly watchable on a moment to moment basis, considering the director and cast involved, but a lack of compelling writing keeps it from ever working. I wanted to like this one, truly, but it just wouldn’t meet me even halfway. It’s not even much of a dog movie, which would have been an easy way to score some points with this animal lover. Instead, this film just isn’t much of anything at all.

SCORE: ★★1/2