Movie Review Mom: Only the Brave

Movie Review Mom Grade:  A-

Rating:  PG-13, 2 hours 14 minutes

In a Nutshell:Based on a true story and an article written in GQ Magazine, this is a timely movie that spotlights true heroes who fight fires.  More specifically, it honors the real men called the Granite Mountain Hotshots in Arizona.

Uplifting theme: 

• The motto of the Granite Mountain Hotshots is “Esse quam videri,” which means “To be, rather than to seem.”
•  Brotherhood, unity, loyalty
•  Courage doesn’t mean you’re not afraid.  You just do it anyway.
• Family is the most important thing.  Family isn’t just the one you’re born into.
• Second chances and forgiveness
• “Doing something that’s never been done before takes time.” – Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges)
• John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
• Tips for parents: 
  • Some profanity, male-bonding trash talk, and  1 F-bomb.
  • Someone gets a rattlesnake bite.
  • Drug use
  • Talk of sex
  • Lots of dangerous fire and perilous situations
  • People die.
  • Wounded horse.

  https://youtu.be/EUE38iv0f1Y

Things I liked:

• Wow, how did they film some of those scenes?  The fire looks very real.  Great job.
• You get to see pictures of the actual men who served in the Granite Mountain Hotshots team at the end of the movie.
•  Jennifer Connelly makes a gorgeous cowgirl and gives the best stand-out performance in the movie.  Her emotional range was stellar.  She spent time with the real Amanda Marsh to prepare for her role in the film.
• Jeff Bridges sings in a band called “Steinbrink and the Rusty Pistol” in a bar scene!
•  I thought it was interesting that the famous travel empire, Conde Nast, was involved with this film. You see some beautiful Arizona landscapes.
• In terms of emotion and exciting fire action, Only The Bravereminded me of the 1991 movie Backdraft, which I loved.
• Congrats to Miles Teller for having two movies in theaters at the same time!  He’s currently also starring in Thank You for Your Service
• I liked Dierks Bentley’s featured song Hold The Light (From “Only The Brave”) [feat. S. Carey]

Things I didn’t like:

• There are several other movies also titled “Only the Brave”, but they are not related to this movie. Seems like they could have picked another title, right?
• There were some scenes that were annoyingly dark, as in, I couldn’t see the expressions on people’s faces when they were talking in a dark room.  I’m sure it was an artistic choice, but it still bugged me.
• Sometimes you can’t quite hear the dialogue, because there are so many other sounds going on.
• I like Jeff Bridges, but lately he only plays the same old character in all of his movies. This is the first time he and Josh Brolin have worked together in a film since True Grit, another fantastic movie where Jeff Bridges plays the same kind of character. Don’t get me wrong…he does it very well!
• Lots of spitting.  ha ha

@trinaboice