“Ready?”

From Only the Brave.

Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) is a superintendent fighting to get his firefighters qualified as an elite group of wildlife firefighters know as hotshots.  This would be the first group of municipal and non-federal hotshots in America; this fact and, in part, Marsh’s attitude towards authority causes the men to face opposition at every turn.  Marsh and his captain, Jesse (James Badge Dale) lead a group of twenty firefighters (played by Taylor Kitsch, Thad Luckinbill, Geoff Stults, and many others) that train hard and work even harder to fight fires, but they are constantly snubbed for advancement.  After finding out that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, an unemployed drug addict with a criminal record, Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller), fights to break free of his demons and support his daughter, so he applies for an open slot on the crew.  Even though he is hot headed and barely-clean, Marsh gives Brendan a place on the crew.  Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges) steps in as the Comissioner of the Wildlife Firefighting to help the crew gain hotshot status and then the hard work begins as the Granite Mountain Hotshots must prove themselves through fire, literally.  While their reputation grows throughout the world of wildlife firefighting and their brotherhood strenghthens within the crew, the long hours are taxing on the wives and families at home, especially Marsh’s wife (Jennifer Connelly).  Challenged on every level, the Hotshots consistently give their all to protect others, regardless of any danger to themselves.

The visuals and immensity of the wildfires are breathtakingly terrifying; the story doesn’t require an outlandish plot when the natural disasters provide more than enough suspense.  The first half-hour of the movie is critical from a set-up standpoint, but as my brother commented, “It’s a slow burn at the start.”  The cast is quite large, but also necessary to create the sense of brotherhood that flows from the actors on screen.  Based on the true story of America’s first municipal hotshot crew, Only the Brave not only tells the amazing story, but builds the story by highlighting the real-life heroes through their trials and triumphs.

| Rated: PG-13 | Running Time: 134 minutes |Genre: action/biography |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 8 of 10|Nudity: 1 of 10|Sexuality: 2 of 10|Gore: 3 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|