Only the brave movie theater7/8/2023 ![]() ![]() There’s little in the way of minimalist architecture or light-up catsuits to be found among this grubby crew, but there’s a sense of quiet shared by all the films, a resistance to all-out bombast. The film is improbably directed by Joseph Kosinski, apparently putting his sci-fi auteur dreams on hold after the gorgeous but hollow Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. But Teller and Brolin lead the film with incredibly watchable naturalism that never descends into sentimentality. Connelly in particular, as Marsh’s loving but long-suffering wife, feels well-positioned to subvert many of the expectations around that kind of character … until she doesn’t. The cast, by the way, is incredibly stacked - Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly, and Andie MacDowell all acquit themselves agreeably in roles that feel like they could have used a lot more screen time. Oftentimes it plays out like a condensed season of television, a format for which it might actually have been better suited, with its long, subtly rendered character arcs and ensemble cast. Only the Brave is meandering and picaresque, sometimes to its own detriment. Cue a predictable yet comforting redemption arc, from McDonough’s fast friendship with hazer turned roommate Chris (Taylor Kitsch) to the surrogate father he finds in Marsh, who we come to learn may not be that different from him. ![]() Meanwhile, young addict Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) stumbles his way into fathering a child, and suddenly feeling the urge to step up and be responsible for her, arrives at the department looking for work. The film opens with them still uncertified and frustrated at their inability to stave off yet another fire. Led by their supervisor Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin), they became local heroes, but if you don’t know their story I’d advise against Googling it, or the GQ article the film is based on. Only the Brave is based on the true story of Prescott, Arizona’s Granite Mountain Hotshots, the first ever municipal fire crew to be certified as Hotshots (that is, the class of firefighter that deals on the ground with wildfires). Miles Teller on His New Movie, Superhero Franchises, and Being Likable (or Not) ![]()
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