The ensemble is completed by Kosinski’s old TRON: LEGACY star, Jeff Bridges, less ornery than usual as Brolin’s mentor (he even gets to warble a country tune), and Jennifer Connelly, offering some much needed female perspective in a gutsier-than-usual part as Brolin’s wife (although the line, “it can’t be easy sharing your man with fire” is a bit groan worthy).

Miles Teller is the Maverick character, a recovering crack-addict who tries to shape up for his infant daughter by joining the hotshots, only to find both a calling and a BFF in Taylor Kitsch’s likable joke-cracking fireman. An unabashedly patriotic, macho “men-on-a-mission” movie, Josh Brolin stars as the grizzled chief, who has enough quirks to avoid becoming a cliché, with him sporting eye glasses (it’s so rare you see a bespectacled action hero outside KINGSMAN) and carrying prayer beads that suggest he’s a Buddhist. Its genesis lies in a GQ article ( check it out) that’s well worth a read – but only after seeing it as not knowing the outcome undoubtedly gives it more of a kick.ĭirected by TRON: LEGACY and OBLIVION’s Joseph Kosinski, it’s a solid attempt by him to make something a little more grounded, and good practice for his upcoming TOP GUN sequel, with it actually sharing some thematic similarities to that ’86 classic. Whatever its commercial reception is, ONLY THE BRAVE is a thoroughly compelling action-adventure, with the added appeal of being based on a true story. In the nineties, this would have been another TWISTER. Yet, in the modern film landscape, ONLY THE BRAVE is so dicey a prospect that one company (Lionsgate) actually sold it off to another (Sony), and despite mostly positive reviews, no one’s expecting it to make a dent at the box office. It’s a star-laden movie with an interesting, based-on-fact, premise, amazing CGI effects, and tons of human interest to tug at the heartstrings.

REVIEW: Watching ONLY THE BRAVE I couldn’t help but think that twenty years ago this would have been a Jerry Bruckheimer-level A-list tentpole summer release. PLOT: The true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite crew of firefighters dedicated to fighting wildfires all over the United States.

Only the brave star