This was a well-timed film, huh? Half of Northern California is on fire and here’s a film about the guys who deal with it. In fact, the timing is a little too convenient if you ask me. Hmmmm … how did those wine country fires get started? Not sure I ever got a straight answer on that one.
From the title to the last bit of brushfire, Only the Brave insists upon the importance of its subject matter. This potentially exciting film is marred by writing over-enamored with the unforgiving lives of the professional firefighting set. I’m not saying I wouldn’t wish to be rescued in a wildfire, and I’m not saying this job isn’t dangerous or the actions here aren’t heroic. We treasure the people who put out fires, but the first two things I took from this sneak peek into the lives of wildfirefighters were as follows: 1) they’re all white 2) this fraternity is as equally into its manly-man-man-he-rah-mannishness as any NFL team, police force, or deployed platoon.
Hmmm, there needs to be background to describe the plot. Wildfires are fought by two grades of firefighter: #1s are professional mobile teams. Their members are cherry picked among firefighting units and they storm the countryside like traveling minstrels –except that their venue always chooses them, and not vice-versa. These guys fight the fire. #2s are local firefighting units providing peripheral support. #2s, as the number suggests, are crap; they’re complete subordinates. The Granite Mountain Hotshots became the first local municipality to achieve “hotshot” status. Yes, apparently, the globetrotting pros of the fire safety community are literally called “hotshots.”
Early in the film and pre-hotshot status, Granite Mountain leader Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) is forced to subordinate dick-swinging position to the pros. The subsequent error in judgment by the primo team costs several houses and we get to reflect upon Eric’s reaction. An observational dilemma arrives — is Eric’s disappointment and increased desire to attain A-Team status a function of his need to save people and property … or is it about his ego? Let’s ask his wife, Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), as she’s the only woman in the film allowed a personality. This means she gets to be on screen during Eric’s manly manliness at home.
To reach #1 status, Eric immediately takes on two trainees, who I’m guessing were the only ones who showed up. Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) has exactly zero (0) qualities to recommend himself. He doesn’t know the job, he isn’t in shape, he’s a drug addict, and he’s currently on probation, but darn it, young man, you’re white, and I like that. Oops. That’s me talking for the movie, not the movie itself. I think. Brendan is our guinea pig; he lets us know how to go from addict to hotshot, which takes a whole flaming mountainside of work.
The odd part of the he-man laced theme permeating Only the Brave is that while the dialogue consistently sounds like carefully edited locker-room talk, the filmmakers might have undersold the ability it takes to become a hotshot. Only the Brave never mentions the thin mountain air and while the scorching temperatures are often cited, they’re never really felt. Give me a fire suit, a pack, and 30 minutes of activity and I’ll sweat even in a Siberian winter; these guys are clearing brush, whacking trees, setting fires and scrubbing desert/forest for
hours at a time in human kilns and sweat like they’re in a deodorant ad. Yeah, that sounds like the Arizona I know.
I’ve been harsh on this film because of the impression it left, but it really isn’t bad and I probably now deserve to have my ass kicked but good by any professional firefighter. The work is intense, difficult, dangerous, and requires a calm temperament. See the problem, solve the problem … recognize and react to the danger, ignore the fear. It’s not for everybody. However, the dialogue did absolutely suck from time-to-time. After the first draft of this dick-measuring contest of a film, (I’m guessing) somebody almost close to reasonable suggested, “maybe we take the locker room stuff from ‘R’ to ‘PG-13’ and replace one of the fire fighting vehicles with a real live woman.” I wish somebody had then added, “and then let’s cast a minority.” Yeah, I saw the group shot. They were, indeed, all white … like Arizona itself? Would it have killed you to cast for even the smallest amount of diversity? I don’t think so. This wasn’t The Sound of Music. Racially pure casting shouldn’t have been an issue here and I can’t help thinking the reason has less to do with trueness to the biography and more to do with heroic perception. If you have a better explanation, I’m all ears.
Pro Hotshots choose action over fear
They arrive whenever blazes are near
Within this profession
Lies dread confession
Getting fired means more than loss of career
Rated PG-13, 133 Minutes
Director: Joseph Kosinki
Writer: Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer
Genre: When dick measuring gets real
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The testosterone set
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Fans of dialogue
