Only the Brave (2017)

[Silver Raven]

This movie was surprisingly better than I expected.  A good script, pretty good acting (especially from Jennifer Connelly), and the location scouts were really the stars here, finding great spots to film in . I'm usually pretty bad at spotting CGI, so I don't how much of the fires were digital, but it certainly looked real to me.  I also appreciated that Jennifer Connelly's character had her own story and wasn't just an appendage.

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I decided to give this a go due to apparently being the only movie out this weekend that apparently didn't completely suck (although I still my see Geostorm because it looks like it could be ridiculous in an entertaining way and The Snowman just to see how you screw-up a film with Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, and J.K. Simmons), and I was pleasantly surprised.  I agree with something I read that said it reminded me of the Mark Wahlberg/Peter Berg "true American hero" films like Patriots' Day and Deepwater Horizon, only better due to allowing its characters to have flaws and not making them larger then life (if those two did this, it would have ended with Marky Mark not only being the lone survivor, but putting out the fire by pissing on it.  OK, the last part is an exaggeration, but it would be close!)

Acting was great.  Josh Brolin reminds of Kurt Russell in that he can play these type of alpha male, macho characters, but avoid making them come off like obnoxious meatheads or jock-like assholes, and I thought he was an effective lead here.  I don't dislike Miles Teller like others on the internet do, but I do feel like he can fall into playing a variation of his Fletcher from Whiplash in most of his work, but I thought he got to stretch a bit here, and made Brendan likable at the end. Jeff Bridges did his thing and Jennifer Connelly was definitely punching below her weight class here, but at least she gave it 100%, even if she could have probably half-assed it, and still be good.  Surprisingly, I found Taylor Kitsch to be one of the highlights and was good at making Chris come off like a bullying jerk at first, but a good friend to Brendan at the end.  Actually, after this, I really want to see Teller and Kitsch in a buddy comedy.  Their scene with trying to take care of Brendan's baby had me laughing for a good bit.  The rest of the cast was good too, even if a lot of the characters tended to blend in.

I didn't know much about the real-life events going in, but I figured it would end tragically.  Still, it was shocking that everyone but Brendan died.  Thought the film handled it well.  The scenes that really stuck out was Amanda sobbing in the car while Duane/Bridges was barely holding it together, everyone's reaction to seeing Brendan after they knew only one survived and realizing it meant that their loved one was dead, and Amanda comforting a guilt-ridden Brendan.  While I clearly felt for the family members who lost someone the most, I can only imagine the survivor's remorse he was feeling: especially since the reason he survived came down to the luck of the draw (being picked to be the look-out.)

The film was nice to look at too and great use of New Mexico filling in for Arizona.  Surprised that it was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who has mainly done jus sci-fi work in the past (Tron: Legacy and Oblivion with Tom Cruise.)  I wonder if he'll continue to branch out.

Too bad it isn't gaining any traction at the box office, but I suspect this will be one of the films that will fare better in home viewing, since it is a bit old-fashioned and lacks the buzz to standout at the theaters.  Still, I'm glad I gave it a watch.

[Duke2801]

This was a good movie, but yea, that ending was rough. I went in not knowing the story and was shocked to see the outcome. I thought all the actors did a great job and the script was solid. Visuals and cinematography were stunning.