Home of the Brave (2006)
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
DVD Info
Release:
Oct 23, 2007
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
...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!"
Patriotic claptrap masquerading as a touchy-feely salute to the troops.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It often undercuts its nobler goals by resorting to hammy dialogue and unnecessarily melodramatic contrivances.
a clunky movie lacking subtlety, and full of bad dialogue that tries too hard to get its point across.
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.
Earnest but lazy, fitfully laughable and insulting, Home of the Brave is cowardly work.
The cast is certainly worthy and they are clearly committed to their roles, but unfortunately HOME OF THE BRAVE just misses the mark.
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.
Without question, an important, thought- and emotion-provoking film, certain to be controversial, and to be remembered.
[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.
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.
Important subject, good intentions, bad movie...its sheer ineptitude trumps its noble aspirations.
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.
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