What’s your first reaction to “Benedict Cumberbatch plays a cowboy”? Is it laughter? Is it saying “nope” to yourself and everyone around you? I’m a Cumberbitch and even my reaction was “wtf?” But then I watched the trailer for The Power of the Dog and read more about the movie and the book from which it is adapted. And it’s kind of interesting. This is Jane Campion’s first film in twelve years, and Campion is (to me) arguably one of the greatest directors of her generation. She shot this in New Zealand. And while it’s about cowboys, it’s also about repressed homosexuality, fragile masculinity, anti-Semitism and a lot more. Here’s the new trailer:
This is based on a novel by Thomas Savage of the same name. It’s set in 1920s Montana, and Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons play brothers. Plemons’ character, George, falls in love with Rose, played by Kirsten Dunst. Rose is a widow and a mother to a teenaged son. She and her son move to the ranch and Cumberbatch’s cruel cowboy brother does sh-t to them. Ugh. If you watched the trailer and got the feeling that it is full of menacing sexual imagery, you would be correct.
So will you watch Benedict Cumberbatch as a repressed and cruel cowboy? Why does he keep getting these parts? I’ll never know. But I’ll admit that this does intrigue me, and I suspect Benedict took the part because he wanted to work with Jane Campion.
The year is 1925. A charismatic yet fearsome rancher begins to torment his brother's new wife and son, until he's exposed to the possibility of love.
Jane Campion's THE POWER OF THE DOG, stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons & Kodi Smit-McPhee. This December. pic.twitter.com/wkwgfxxP2k
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) August 23, 2021
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
I liked the teaser, very ominous.
I feel like i am gonna be sad and angry throughout the movie and not gonna be vindicated at the and and remain sad, but still i am gonna watch this. It looks soooo good.
PS: I like Benedict.
I’ll watch it if I hear that it has a happy ending. And that nothing bad happens to the teenage son. Which seems unlikely… looks pretty chilling.
But Cumberbatch as a cowboy is pretty damn hot.
Yeah I should do that too but probably i will see the movie in the first day its available and be sorry and angry for a week. This is going to be another “The Fall” for me 🙁
@WingKingdom, **possible spoilers**
The book has a very “twisty” ending. Think “The Sixth Sense.” Unless they changed it for the movie. I’m skipping it because of that. Thomas Savage (the author) was way ahead of his time when he wrote this in the late 60’s.
I think Benedict Cumberbatch is a very good actor but his agent, whoever they are, must literally be the best agent Hollywood has ever seen because he seems to work constantly and he doesn’t tend to do the sort of lowbrow crap that Nicolas Cage or Sean Bean or other actors who work so much do. But at this point, I’ve seen him in too much and he’s completely overexposed to me. Plus I don’t like sexual abuse/exploitation tv/film because it’s just too close to reality.
In what world would he and Jesse Plemons (who I LOVE) ever be brothers?
Fassbinder would have been a better brother casting.
I always thought he was not a good looking guy until he played Dr. Strange. It is the beard, he looks so hot. I’m totally watching this cowboy film even the fact I don’t like cowboys films.
ITA. Benedict as Stephen Strange is hot. It’s also the cocky arrogance of the character. I’m drawn to that type, which is unfortunate for me, as it usually doesn’t end well.
I need to know if there is an actual dog in the movie and if anything bad happens to the dog.
Once the movie gets released, i would go to doesthedogdie.com to see what triggers are in the film (it’s not just about dogs). I find that website incredibly helpful.
Thanks!
Thanks for posting that M!
@M: That is an amazing name for a trigger warning website. I’m so upset I didn’t think of it first! Lol. Thank you for sharing!
It has nothing to do with a dog.
Who knew websites like this existed, thanks for the recommendation. I always hate watching dramas with animals because the first thing I think of is will the animal die. Any prospect of that ruins the movie for me and I hated that the puppy was killed in John Wick. And BC as a cowboy? I’ll watch this if only to hear his accent, very suspicious he didn’t say a word in the trailer.
I’m equally suspicious over here.
And that’s coming from a native Texan who is regularly asked where in the north they’re originally from. People are always shocked when I say I was born and raised here and have never lived anywhere else.
@terra, I’ve heard that the traditional Texas twang is in danger of dying out, largely due to so many people moving to Texas from elsewhere. It’s a shame, because it’s one of my favorite regional accents. I’d be curious to know what part of Texas you’re from; it’s a big state, and the twang is more pronounced in some areas than others.
@iconoclast59: I’m from Houston, as was my father (and his father before him, with his mother being from Canada).
My mother, maternal grandmother, and the rest of that side are all from the Dallas area, with a great deal of my grandmother’s childhood spent in a tiny pinprick of a town called Mexia, known best for being Anna Nicole Smith’s hometown.
My father didn’t have an accent and my grandfather who is from Birmingham, AL doesn’t really either, oddly enough.
My Grandma, though? The twang is strong and real in that one. She told me a story about being in the hospital in CA once years ago and having nurses and doctors stop by just to hear her accent. An example? She can’t say woman, she says whoa-man.
I felt the same way about the film that he did with Johnny Depp about Whitey Bulger. In what world would they ever be brothers? And I was right; he was terrible in that film. I like him as an actor, but he’s best when he plays repressed Englishmen. He’s also a great villain as well.
I think he’s talented but he can not do a American accent to save his life. Every American role he’s done it’s taken my right out of the character (esp de. Strange).
And this is a old fashioned Montana accent so I’m already cringing. There’s a reason they didn’t have him talk in the trailer
I noticed that immediately. He doesn’t say a word
I think the character either was educated somewhere else or was from somewhere else, so there wouldn’t be a pure early 20th century Montana accent in any case.
I was about to say this very same thing – talented actor, can’t do an American accent to save his life.
This is the reason Doctor Strange is one of my least favorite entries in the MCU – I felt like he was reading the lines like he was imagining what Sherlock would sound like if he was American and it was distracting.
I’m with you! I love the character of Dr, Strange but his accent was jarring, I would have much preferred them to make him British. Didn’t seem like it would have changed anything about the plot.
Completely agree that it would have made zero difference to the plot of Doctor Strange if he was British.
It’s a shame as his American accent is definitely rubbish and takes away a lot of his depth and formidability.
Rose is such a typical role that would normally go to Michele Williams, that it really threw me off in the trailer that it’s Kirsten Dunst and not her
Ha, you’re right.
Well, thinking about it logically, Dunst is married to Jesse Plemons and so probably had a leg up on the casting process (or the other way around, who knows?). Plus, Williams has already done the bonnet and horse thing in Meek’s Cutoff. Also, depending on when this was shot Williams might have been pregnant at the time?
Whatever the reason I am happy to see Dunst’s career continue on an upswing. There was a point there it didn’t look too good, but she’s pulled it off and I’m happy for her.
I love Westerns and Cumberbatch so, hard yes.
I get no sense of plot from the trailer. It looks like very derivative, like someone took a Tarantino movie (Django, with the blood on the cotton, here it’s wheat or whatever), Legends of the Fall (hot brothers fighting over a woman), and Brokeback Mountain (hot repressed cowboy), and threw them together without much more thought. I hope it’s more than that, given the director and Benedict.
I also think it’s a bad movie title that gives no indication of what it might be about. Reminds me of the hair of the dog, which I doubt it means to.
But could be really good if someone takes those elements and does something new with them!!
Little Gold Men we’re just talking about this movie and book and so I learned it was written in the 60s by a closeted gay man. And Annie Proulx (who wrote Brokeback Mountain) wrote an afterword to a rerelease of this book years ago. I’m only interested because I think Jane Campion is one of the most amazing directors alive.
I’m sold! Great director, actors, cinematography looks mighty fine, and puzzling plot which peaks my interest. Looking forward to it.
Who wouldn’t want to work with Jane Campion? I expect nothing but a five-star movie.
This. Benny would have been a fool not to say yes. When Jane Champion calls, you pick up the phone.
Plus, with the filming schedule he and other cast, crew members all wound up staying in New Zealand for months during COVID travel restrictions.
In some interview he mentioned he had traveled with pretty much his whole immediate family – if you have to get locked down for months somewhere away from home, how fortunate to have your family there and have it be in one of the most beautiful (and safest) places in the world.
This is based on a novel of the same name, that actually was written before Brokebacj Mountain came out. It’s a pretty well known novel if you are into this sort of thing, about internalized homophobia. I think Benedict is a great actor and can see him doing a really good job with such a layered and complicated character *if* he doesn’t butcher the accent. I’m very excited about Jesse Plemmons too, I think he’s excellent. I’m all for this movie.
Yeah, I’m in. For the mood, the gorgeous setting and hot cowboy, horse wrangling Cumberbatch, and Jane Campion.
I’m actually more excited to see Jesse Plemons. I think he’s an excellent actor and very underrated.
I like Plemons but I think he tends to get cast in the same role. He’s a weird “bad” guy in everything I’ve seen him in (breaking bad, game night, the jungle cruise) (he wasn’t actually the bad guy in game night but he was weird AF lol).
I like Cumberbatch, but no. I think I’m the only person in the world who hated The Piano. I mean I get what the story was about, but it triggered everything I detest about Victorian literature and to this day I can’t even think about the film or Jane Campion without starting to rant all over again. But, I suppose if I have to be irrational about something, this is a pretty safe way to go.
Oh completely agree with your thoughts on The Piano!! I thought it was a misogynistic film. Loved Bright Star though so i guess i can forgive Campion for The Piano.
Omg, I’m not alone!
Nope, I hated the Piano too. Self-indulgent with a few pretty images. Don’t like Cumberbatch in anything either so no Dog for me.
Kirsten Dunst is in it, so immediate YES!
Sounds like an interesting movie, but I don’t know if Cumberbatch is the best choice for this kind of role.
Separately — Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemmons are together IRL. I always wonder when couples are cast in something together, is it just like “oh yeah, we’ll hire your husband too!” or what? Lol.
I don’t know. It looks tense and possibly violent. Not my idea of how to spend two hours of my free time. Maybe once it’s free on streaming so if I don’t like it I can just turn it off.
People on here must not have seen The Mauritanian. HE CAN’T DO AMERICAN SOUTHERN ACCENTS. He needs to stop taking those parts from actors who can
I know, like in “Twelve Years A Slave.” His accent wasn’t dreadful but it was not good and it took me out of the moment every time he talked. He’s a weird choice for this role. You can be an excellent actor, which he is, and not be right for a part.
He’s a terrific actor, but his American accents …vary widely. I had a tough time believing his Edison in THE CURRENT WAR, to say the least…
Must confess I was very surprised by “cowboy.” I’d seen the news about the film being made and very intrigued by Jane Campion’s choice of material…
I thought it was an adaptation of Don Winslow’s The Power of the Dog, an incredibly violent novel about the Mexican drug cartels, which he spent six years researching.
I love Cumberbatch so I’ll definitely check it out, even though the theme of “man terrorizing family” is a huge turnoff. The cinematography is gorgeous, maybe that’ll help keep me watching.
I guess we should be happy it’s not another WWII flick from him? He’s done so many of those!
Wow this creeped me out, particularly Benedict. Which means it will probably be really good and I most likely won’t watch it, LOL
Cumberbatch & Plemons are brothers? Strange casting.
Actually, I can see them as brothers. There is something similar about their faces.
YES!!!!
As soon as I saw the 1920s I thought no, he doesn’t need to be in this role. I probably won’t watch it.
Will definitely watch this. Love everyone involved.
Yes. I will watch.
I like him as Doctor Strange, and he’s 100% DILF with the facial hair, but he’s everywhere and I’m tired of him already, tbh.
Go spend some time with your kids, dude.
I like BC.
I’ve watched many of his projects just for his performance.
But, since lockdown I am in need of some good comedy, even slightly bad comedy.
So, not this for me. Maybe later, maybe not.