Review: Only the Brave

The true story of The Granite Mountain Hotshots, a support crew of Arizona fire-fighters led by grizzled Josh Brolin, who are hoping to go legit and be their own team. In 2013, the team is tested by the Yarnell Hill Fire. Miles Teller is the new recruit, a long-time ne’er do well, looking to find his place. Jennifer Connelly plays Brolin’s supportive and patient wife, whilst Taylor Kitsch and James Badge Dale play fire-fighters.

Unless you count “The Towering Inferno” (I don’t), there’s two good movies about fire-fighters; Ron Howard’s “Backdraft”, and this 2017 flick from director Joseph Kosinski (the not very interesting “Tron: Legacy”). Based on a true story, this is a little too long and a little too clichéd to be great, but a well-made film is a well-made film. It contains some of Josh Brolin’s best work as an actor to date, and he’s more than ably backed up by a rock-solid cast, and that even includes the normally repellent Miles Teller. Playing a ne’er-do-well trying to prove himself, Teller couldn’t be more perfectly cast, actually.

I don’t know how she does it, but Jennifer Connelly appears to have good chemistry with everyone she acts opposite on film, and her scenes with Brolin are no exception here. Yes, I’d probably like her to stop playing the wife/love interest role for a bit, but she’s damn good at it I must say. Meanwhile, Jeff Bridges appears to be taking the late Sam Shepard’s roles now, and that’s fine. He even gets to perform a version of ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ and it ain’t half bad, like a softer Kris Kristofferson. He’s a good fit in the small role of the paternal fire-fighter boss here, though ultimately, he and everyone else gets outclassed by Brolin here. Special mention goes to Taylor Kitsch, because if it wasn’t for his performance as an antagonising arsehole, I probably wouldn’t have sympathised with Teller so much.

Director Kosinski clearly has an eye for visuals, this film looks absolutely stunning. Thus, we’re not getting a drab, matter-of-fact TV movie treatment here, and I appreciated that even if screenwriters Ken Nolan (the excellent “Black Hawk Down”) and Eric Warren Singer (“The International”, “American Hustle”) don’t exactly re-invent the wheel here. It’s a solid tale of very, very brave people who have chosen a very, very dangerous profession. I’ve had volunteer fire-fighters in my family, and I can’t imagine how scary this job must be. I don’t use the word heroism all that often, but I think it applies to guys like these. In fact, when I started to watch the film, I was surprised Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg weren’t involved, as this is usually their territory. I’d also like to make mention of the excellent soundtrack full of rock and metal songs, including Metallica’s ‘Jump in the Fire’ (Points off for the eye-rolling Steve Earle’s ‘Copperhead Road’, however).

I wish the film were shorter and less clichéd, but this is a well-made, roughneck of a film on a pretty important subject. Good acting all-round, but Josh Brolin is especially impressive.

Rating: B-