But whereas the Berg/Wahlberg Uber-Patriotic trilogy of late winds up casting its protagonists as emblematic of The American Spirit, Kosinski allows the his game ensemble cast give more specificity and definition to the men that prevents them from being mere symbols or action figures. So all of this seems the setup for a fairly rote (despite it having the cover of being based on a real incident) story of heroic men heroically being heroes in the face of overwhelming odds - something that Peter Berg would make with Mark Wahlberg in the lead. (This unfortunately includes Andie MacDowell as Bridges’ wife I’m not even sure if she gets more than two or three lines of dialogue in what is the definition of a thankless role.) Aside from her, none of the women are given very much to do except beam at their heroic husbands, hold cooing babies off to the side, and eventually weep over the tragic events that unfolded. While she’s saddled (no pun intended) with a rather trite bit of characterization involving rehabilitating old and damaged horses - “You know how I love a lost cause” - Connolly’s ample gifts as an actress help her to sell both the tenderness of her relationship with Brolin, her concern over his and his men’s safety, and the legitimate anger she feels over how his work has impacted their relationship. The one who makes the biggest impression is Jennifer Connolly as Marsh’s wife. As is standard in films of this ilk, the women largely get the short end of the stick. Rounding out the male side of the ensemble is Jeff Bridges as a mentor figure to the men who helps them to become certified. The cast is stacked with some welcome familiar faces: Miles Teller as Brendan McDonough, a former pothead and inveterate screwup who finds a sense of purpose and discipline while training with the Hotshots Taylor Kitsch as McKenzie, a hotheaded stalwart of the group and James Badge Dale as Jesse Steed, Marsh’s charismatic and capable second-in-command. Through scenes of rigorous training, as well as flashes of the men’s lives and families back home, the film sketches a gruff-but-warm-hearted portrait of men who put constantly put themselves into situations most of us would never go near willingly. For most of the duration it observes the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an Arizona firefighting squad assembled and watched over by Eric “Supe” Marsh (a warmly paternal turn from Josh Brolin), as they fight to be certified as one of the premiere qualified firefighting crews in the country. Only the Brave only dedicates the last 20–30 minutes of its 2+ hour runtime to the Yarnell Hill Fire. It’s something of a shame that the movie was so DOA at the box-office when it premiered last fall, as not only is this the sort of rousing “testament to the men in uniform who keep our families safe” story that generally results in popular success when the men in question are wearing uniforms of our armed forces, but the horrific outbreak of wildfires that tormented California last fall would seem to lend a real-life urgency to this particular story of courage under pressure and low-key heroism. But the director’s previous films seem to have given Kosinski the technical surety to conceive of and execute some truly staggering fiery setpieces, while the ensemble cast allows him to break free of the stiff, unconvincing characterizations of his first two works. ![]() ![]() The helmer of such beloved-by-me visually-striking science fiction epics Tron Legacy and Tom Cruise’s Oblivion would seem to be an unconventional choice for a Based-On-A-True-Story male weepie detailing the heroic work of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of firefighters who tragically perished in the Yarnell Hill Fire of June 2013. At first glance, Only the Brave would seem to be an odd fit for director Joseph Kosinski.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |