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Home of the Brave

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Home of the Brave (2006)

23%
38%
40%
N/A
N/A
N/A
23 %
Reviews Counted: 52 Fresh: 12  Rotten:40 Average Rating: 4.3/10
 
Consensus: The ensemble cast works hard, but hammy direction and a script lacking in nuance ruins this movie’s noble intentions.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Theatrical Release: Dec 15, 2006 Limited

Synopsis: The Vietnam War provided plenty of cinematic ruminations on the futility of battle and the struggle of returning soldiers to adjust to normal life. With HOME OF THE BRAVE director Irwin Winkler (THE NET) applies similar concepts to the Iraq War of the early 21st century, positing actors... The Vietnam War provided plenty of cinematic ruminations on the futility of battle and the struggle of returning soldiers to adjust to normal life. With HOME OF THE BRAVE director Irwin Winkler (THE NET) applies similar concepts to the Iraq War of the early 21st century, positing actors Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Presley, and 50 Cent (credited here under his real name, Curtis Jackson) in the roles of army recruits who tussle with the mundanity of life after war. The action begins during the heat of battle, with an ambush that leaves many of its victims either dead or wounded. Winkler subsequently transports the action to the struggles his characters endure once safely back home, with alcoholism, prosthetic limbs, parental abuse, and a hostage crisis all causing innumerable problems, none of which are helped by a military that remains uninterested in their frantic pleas for help and guidance. Winkler infuses his film with an equal mixture of anger and grief, and while he may not reach the heights of Oliver Stone's BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY or Michael Cimino's THE DEER HUNTER, he draws on similar frustrations felt by the characters in those movies. HOME OF THE BRAVE was shot while the violence still raged in Iraq, which will doubtless make it a fascinating curio in years to come, especially as this denied Winkler a distance from his subject that many of the filmmakers who masterfully dissected the Vietnam War undoubtedly benefited from. [More]

Genre: Action/Adventure

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Curtis Jackson, Jessica Biel, Christina Ricci, Chad Michael Murray

Director: Irwin Winkler
Producer: Rob Cowan, Randall Emmett, George Furla
Composer: Stephen Endelman

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 23, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Dual Side

Audio:

  • Stereo - Spanish
  • Dolby Digital Surround - French
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentaries - Including Director, Writer, Producer
  • Alternate Scenes - Deleted Scenes (2; w/ Optional Commentary)
  • Disc 1/Side A: HOME OF THE BRAVE - Full Frame
  • Disc 1/Side B: HOME OF THE BRAVE - Widescreen

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/16/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Ratings Image
N/A

Obvious, plodding, cloying and politically innocuous.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
04/16/08
John Anderson
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
1/4

...there's certainly no denying the effectiveness of one unintentionally hilarious moment in which Biel's spurned boyfriend exclaims, "I guess it only takes one hand to push people away!"

Full Review | comment Comment
11/09/07
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image
1/4

Patriotic claptrap masquerading as a touchy-feely salute to the troops.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/08/07
Kam Williams
Mount Desert Islander
Ratings Image
1.5/5

While the film tries to be sensitive to the people's plight, it does itself (and the soldiers) a disservice by presenting them as brittle, emotionally fragile victims.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/07
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures
Ratings Image
N/A

Missed opportunity for some cutting irony on behalf of indigenous people who have always been the victims in one way or another, of dubious celebrations like Thanksgiving, the laborers are instead merely a dramatic device - wallpaper really.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/21/07
Prairie Miller
WBAI Radio
Ratings Image
68/100

Shows some significant strengths but ultimately misses the mark due to incompletely developed characters and hesitation to hit home as hard as the subject matter justifies.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/20/07
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image
3/4

This is morose, head-shaking stuff, and director Irwin Winkler (Life as a House, De-Lovely) isn't one to ease up on the 'ol emotional manipulation button.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/18/07
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
Ratings Image
2/4

It often undercuts its nobler goals by resorting to hammy dialogue and unnecessarily melodramatic contrivances.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/25/07
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Ratings Image
1.5/4

a clunky movie lacking subtlety, and full of bad dialogue that tries too hard to get its point across.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/10/07
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com
Ratings Image
N/A

I must say the best thing about the movie is that it's interested in the soldiers, not the self-serving popinjays who seem to think the war is a big fat career-enhancing photo opportunity. The people who got shot at deserve most of the attention.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/10/07
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
1/4

A laughably clichéd, melodramatic, Oscar-courting prestige pic.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/25/07
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
Ratings Image
0/6

Earnest but lazy, fitfully laughable and insulting, Home of the Brave is cowardly work.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/07
Stephen Garrett
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
C

The cast is certainly worthy and they are clearly committed to their roles, but unfortunately HOME OF THE BRAVE just misses the mark.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
N/A

Sure, it's earnest -- sure, it's melodramatic. Yup, it's just barely this side of being a made-for-Lifetime TV soaper. But there's a mesmerizing power to this little film that comes from its sheer un-told-ness, from its right-now immediacy.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/02/07
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
Ratings Image
3/4

Without question, an important, thought- and emotion-provoking film, certain to be controversial, and to be remembered.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Janos Gereben
Entertainment Insiders
Ratings Image
3/4

[Director] Winkler clearly loves these characters, and if he sometimes pushes too hard in his effort to make the audience share his affection it's forgivable under the circumstances.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Jim Hemphill
Reel.com
Ratings Image
2/5

A predictable and not-bold-enough account of the struggles of a band of National Guard soldiers after returning home from the war in Iraq.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/24/06
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
Ratings Image
D

Important subject, good intentions, bad movie...its sheer ineptitude trumps its noble aspirations.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/22/06
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Ratings Image
2.2/5

Dr, Will Marsh (Samuel L. Jackson) has to reintegrate with a family that no longer really understands him. The problem with the film is, while Winkler and writer Mark Friedman try, we can't really understand either.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/22/06
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
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REEL_REVIEWER
(2006)-Irwin Winkler's HOME OF THE BRAVE opens December 15, 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/26


REEL_REVIEWER
(2006)-Irwin Winkler's HOME OF THE BRAVE opens December 15, 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/26


REEL_REVIEWER
(2006)-Irwin Winkler's HOME OF THE BRAVE opens December 15, 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/26


REEL_REVIEWER
(2006)-Irwin Winkler's HOME OF THE BRAVE opens December 15, 2006!!!
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50 cent as a soldier?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
by: ashfan6 2/10/07
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