ReelBob: ‘Only the Brave’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
“Only the Brave” is an impressive undertaking, chronicling the courage and brotherhood of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an arm of the Prescott, Ariz., Fire Department, tasked with battling wildfires.
The Hotshots made tragic national headlines in 2013 when 19 members were killed in Arizona battling the Yarnell Hill Fire.
Director Joseph Kosinski’s movie, which runs about 133 minutes, traces the challenges the Granite Mountain crew faced when they were being certified.
Hotshot crews are specifically trained in wildfire suppression tactics, such as clearing dry brush and trees that can spread fires, digging trenches to contain blazes and starting backfires to confront or halt fires.
“Only the Brave” is more a portrait of dedicated men — regular guys with flaws and problems like the rest of us — who perform extraordinary deeds to protect their neighbors, homes and families.
The technical expertise Kosinski and his crew bring to the film, especially during fire sequences, is amazing. These scenes equal the pyrotechnics used in Ron Howard’s 1991 “Backdraft.”
The task in “Only the Brave” is dramatizing the sequence of events and the lives of those involved.
This is where the line between fact and fiction blur. Hotshot teams are comprised of 20 members, a difficult number for a filmmaker to juggle.
“Only the Brave” focuses on two men — Eric “Supe” Marsh (Josh Brolin), leader of the group, and Brendan “Donut” McDonough (Miles Teller), its newest member.
McDonough had a checkered past before joining the Hotshots. He used drugs, was arrested for petty larceny and served jail time.
Marsh, instinctively, sees something redemptive in McDonough and — despite doubts from other squad members — gives him a chance.
Marsh is wrestling with his own past demons. He and his wife, Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), had problems with addictions. Despite, a very loving and passionate relationship, they fiercely argue over their future — especially about starting a family.
These may sound like mainstream-movie dramatizations of real events, but they do help bring these men into focus as regular people who are neither superheroes nor saints.
The dangers and unpredictability of wildfires are impressively showcased. An increase in wind velocity and change of direction doom the Hotshots when the wildfire cuts off their escape route.
One man, who had been serving as a lookout, survived, only because he was rescued at the last moment.
“Only the Brave” serves as a fitting and emotional tribute to the spirit and grit of these valiant men, who, without hesitation, put their lives on the line.
I am a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
ONLY THE BRAVE
3 stars out of 4
(PG-13), adult themes, sexual references, drug use, disturbing fire sequences