Jane Campion Triumphantly Returns With ‘The Power of the Dog’
It's been twelve long years since Jane Campion's last feature film, the sumptuously romantic period drama "Bright Star."
She's certainly made up for lost time with her latest, a powerhouse adaptation of Thomas Savage's 1967 novel.
In Montana during the mid-1920s, Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his brother George (Jesse Plemons) are running their family ranch. Phil has a mean streak and establishes his dominance by frequently mocking George's weight and generally being a rotten human being.
When George takes a liking to a young widow named Rose (Kirsten Dunst, hopefully headed towards a much-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination) and quickly marries her, it sets off something in Phil that only exacerbates his already unpleasant demeanor. He exhibits this in many ways,...