NOW PLAYING
WHAT’S IN THE THEATERS
AROUND EASTERN OREGON
15
AUG. 31�SEPT. 7
Idris Elba goes mano-a-gato with rogue lion in ‘Beast’
By Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
I squared up with “Beast” in full-on
beast mode, meaning: pad, pen, popcorn
and proportional expectations. Expec-
tations somewhat exceeded. Turns out
“Beast” is a fairly good, pretty brutal,
dumb-smart survival thriller made with a
clear, even reductive sense of purpose.
Idris Elba stars, which helps — though
his role will frustrate some, I suspect,
with its beaten-down, essentially reactive
function. “Beast” needs a charismatic ac-
tor at its center, otherwise it’d be literally
nothing but bites (feline) and bytes (digi-
tal). This is a project all too dependent on
the quality of its computer-generated cat.
(Visual quality of lion: quite good.)
Screenwriter Ryan Engle wrote the
Dwayne Johnson giant gorilla bummer
“Rampage,” but he atones for that here
We are a small, no-till farm using organic practices, growing
vegetables, flowers and culinary herbs. We are located one mile up
the South Fork Road in beautiful Dayville, Oregon.
We also have camping and glamping venue with three units.
Look us up on Airbnb at Guyon Springs.
Serving breakfast every Saturday and Sunday.
Please call or text ahead to reserve a spot! (Think Cowboy Dinner
Tree). Check us out on Facebook for weekly menus.
2022 CSA Shares Available. Call or Text to reserve! 541-602-0303
Lauren Mulligan/Universal Pictures
Idris Elba stars in “Beast.”
to some degree. “Beast” tells a two-spe-
cies tale of grief over the death of loved
ones. After the passing of his beloved but
estranged wife, New York-based doctor
Nate (Elba) has brought his daughters
(played by Iyana Halley and Leah Jeff ries)
to South Africa for a safari, and a visit to
their mother’s ancestral African village.
The family is hosted by Nate’s old friend
(Sharlto Copley), who takes an intensely
personal interest in fi ghting the illegal
poachers going after the lions and other
animals native to the savanna.
The prologue depicts the nocturnal
slaughter of an entire pride, with the ex-
ception of the bloodied and now vengeful
rogue lion bent on teaching his enemies,
We can help
you get from
Here to Here
BIKES, SKIS, CLIMBING
GEAR, ADVICE,
BEER & SNACKS, RENTALS,
GOOD PEOPLE
Calling on
&
s
n
a
s
i
t
Ar
n
e
m
s
t
f
a
Cr
Ask about sharing your
creations
BIKES, SKIS, CLIMBING
GEAR, ADVICE,
1301
A
BEER
& SNACKS,
RENTALS,
GOOD PEOPLE
1301 Adams Ave.
Mon-S La Grande, OR
MOUNTAINWORKSBICYCLES.COM
the humans, a lesson. This is poor timing
for Nate and his girls, though you know
how these movies go: What’s bad for
short-term survival odds is generally
favorable for long-term family healing.
The experience of watching “Beast”
is simple: lull, attack, lull, attack, followed
by close-ups of cat-scratch gristle and
bone, followed by the older daughter’s
anger over how Nate handled the marital
separation just before the girls’ mother
received her cancer diagnosis.
Director Baltasar Kormakur is a surviv-
al-drama specialist, having put vulnerable
humans at risk on high (“Everest,” 2015),
in hurricane-threatened waters (“Adrift,”
2018, with Shailene Woodley) and other
S.COM
La Grande, OR
Mon-Sat • 10am-6pm
541.963.3220
Call 503-704 -9866
locales. The Icelandic-born director favors
lengthy, handheld takes in “Beast,” some
of which appear to be real and artfully
staged, others digitally stitched-together
to create an illusory single shot. The idea
is to immerse us, along with Nate’s family,
in this place and one scare after another.
As with so much of this director’s work,
I’m in the middle on “Beast,” though its ef-
fi cient running time puts it a notch above.
Like many of his previous fi lms, this one
has the advantage of modest scale and
a passing interest in human resourceful-
ness under extreme duress. It has also
the disadvantage of spectacle that is
more technical than artistic.
For fans of “Monty Python’s Flying Cir-
cus,” watching “Beast” may recall memo-
ries of the “Scott of the Antarctic” sketch,
in which the explorer unaccountably
took on a stuff ed lion on a beach some-
where in England. Nothing quite so silly
happens in this movie. But there is a fi ne,
ripe, audience-rousing moment where
the younger daughter grabs a tranquilizer
dart and takes care of business, proving
that hands-on experiential learning is
always best.
The climax suggests a warm-weather
equivalent to the bear attack in “The Reve-
nant.” If that’s your thing, this may be, too.
T HOMAS O RCHARDS
U-PICK
Freestone Canning
Peaches, Nectarines,
Plums & Gravenstein
Apples.
Bring a ladder and containers for U-Pick