Movie Reaction: Only the Brave

Formula: Ladder 49 - buildings

I'm sorry. You expect me to believe that Peter Berg had nothing to do with this movie? He is the go-to director these days for "working day hero" movies. Just last year he made both PatriotsDay and Deepwater Horizon - movies about real life disasters/tragedies. A few years back, he made Lone Survivor, a film about a group of chosen brothers in hostile territory. He's happy to work in the Southwest, given his stints working Friday Night Lights, both the show and movie. Hell, Taylor Kitsch is even one of "his guys" (Lone Survivor, Battleship, Friday Night Lights). Only the Brave couldn't be more of a Peter Berg movie if it tried, yet somehow, it isn't one of his. Not even a producer credit.

Only the Brave tells the story the the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a group of wildfire-fighters in Arizona in 2012-2013. It's based on a true story, so you can research that however much you want. Given that little bit of information though, you should be able to piece together where it's going. The period of time the movie covers focuses on their attempt to get certified. I'm not really sure what that means, even after seeing the movie. What I gathered is that they are going from being local firefighters to being federal and that's a big deal. All the character archetypes are there. Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) is the grizzled leader who is getting too old for this shit. Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) is the newbie former addict trying to turn his life around. Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch) is the cocky jokester. Jesse Steed (James Badge Dale) is Marsh's Lt. in waiting. You've seen these characters before. You know these characters. You like these characters. That's how this works. The movie shows enough of their personal lives to care about what happens to them in the more harrowing moments. The beats of the story are familiar and effective.

The cast is great. In addition to the already-named hotshots*, Jennifer Connelly plays Marsh's wife, Jeff Bridges is Marsh's mentor - a retired former firefighter, and Andie MacDowell is Jennifer  Connelly in a decade Bridges' wife. None of the performances blew me away. Just about everyone is cast to play their to their strengths. I don't think I heard Brolin say "Goonies never say die", but it sure felt like he did. The same goes for Kitsch saying "Texas forever". Jeff Bridges hasn't been able to get all the gravel out of his mouth since his Crazy/Heart-True Grit days either. Toward the end, some actors have some big emotions to plays and they are mostly successful at it. I noticed the direction trying a little too hard to milk emotion out of a few shots, and the script has a few "shouting to the heavens" lines that are too much to pull off. But, there's nothing too egregious.

*Btw, hotshots is an official name or at least common nomenclature in the field, which is pretty bitchin'.

On a side note, I still don't understand firefighting and controlled burns and how this job doesn't have a 100% mortality rate. The movie does a decent job explaining how it all works. I can't really blame it for how completely foreign this all is to me. Really, this stuff is magic.

Only the Brave fills my occasional appetite for earnest stories about heroic people in real life situations. It doesn't hit its points harder than it needs to. I'd still take a Deepwater Horizon over it, but it's certainly on the same level as something like Everest. I can forgive it for how often it reverts to familiar tropes, because they work more often than they don't.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend