Benedict Cumberbatch is defending “The Power of the Dog” against criticisms made last week by actor Sam Elliott, who called Jane Campion’s Oscar contender a “piece of shit” in part because of its “allusions of homosexuality.” Cumberbatch stars in the film as a closeted gay rancher in 1825 Montana whose repression manifests in toxic ways such as making life hell for his new sister-in-law (Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
“Someone really took offense to – I haven’t heard it so it’s unfair for me to comment in detail on it – to the West being portrayed in this way,” Cumberbatch said during a recent BAFTA Film Sessions interview. “Beyond that reaction, that sort of denial that anybody could have any other than a heteronormative existence because of what they do for a living or where they’re born, there’s also a massive intolerance…
