Western movie star Sam Elliott is no fan of The Power of the Dog. Though the hit Western from director Jane Campion has been a tremendous hit with critics and Netflix subscribers, coming out strong at the Academy Awards with a slew of nominations, Elliott made it clear he wasn't impressed when the topic came up on Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast. From the start, the actor says that it bothered him when the film was referred to as an "evisceration of the American myth."
“You want to talk about that piece of s**t? F**k no. Why? I’ll tell you why I didn’t like it anyway. I looked at when I was down there in Texas doing 1883 and what really brought it home to me the other day when I said, ‘Do you want to f**king talk about it?’ There was a f**king full-page ad out in the LA Times and there was a review, not a review, but a clip, and it talked about the ‘evisceration of the American myth.’ And I thought, ‘What the f**k? What the f**k?’ This is the guy that’s done westerns forever. The evisceration of the American west?"
Elliott also seems to criticize how the film explores themes of sexual repression and its "allusions to homosexuality." Maron notes how Benedict Cumberbatch's character is implied to be a repressed gay man. In any case, Elliott took issue with how certain characters were portrayed.
"They made it look like — what are all those dancers that those guys in New York who wear bowties and not much else. Remember them from back in the day? ... That’s what all these f**king cowboys in that movie look like. They’re all running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the f**king movie.”
The actor then turned to director Jane Campion, implying that she may not be best suited to direct Western films by alluding that she's not knowledgeable enough about the genre. Elliott does give some praise to Campion personally as a filmmaker, but stands by his opinion that the Oscar nominee knows nothing about the American West. He cites her decision to shoot the film in New Zealand as one example why the film is inauthentic as a Western.
"What the f**k does this woman — she’s a brilliant director by the way, I love her work, previous work — but what the f**k does this woman from down there, New Zealand, know about the American West? And why in the f**k does she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana and say, ‘This is the way it was.’ That f**king rubbed me the wrong way, pal. The myth is that they were these macho men out there with the cattle. I just come from f**king Texas where I was hanging out with families, not men, families, big, long, extended, multiple-generation families…”
The Power of the Dog Might Win Jane Campion One or More Oscars
The Power of the Dog is a popular candidate with the Academy. It is up for many big awards at the Oscars this year, where it has a good chance of sweeping them with many wins. Jane Campion is personally up for Best Director and many fans are predicting that she will win. Campion was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing the script based on Thomas Savage's novel of the same name.
The movie is also nominated for the prestigious Best Picture. Its acting talent has also been honored with nominees for Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst, Best Supporting Actor for both Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, and more.
The Power of the Dog is streaming on Netflix.