Review of Only the Brave (2017) by Connor S — 06 Nov 2017

Out of all of the movies we got that weekend, Only the Brave is the only one that's any good. Maybe it's because the competition left me with low expectations, but Only the Brave genuinely impressed me.

The single most refreshing thing about this movie is its lack of pretentiousness. It actually understands that the audience is smart enough to keep up. Only the Brave manages to depict the specifics of firefighting with relatively little exposition. Amazingly, it even resists the urge to show the training process through a montage, instead giving us whole scenes of it. In addition, the camera is careful and deliberate, cutting out what we don't need to see and only focusing on what we need to. Everything that is shown is there for a reason, down to the most technical aspects. Since this movie is about wild fires, and fire creates light, it's only natural that light is used to its full potential, conveying meaning in every shot about the characters' mindsets and status.

The narrative is multi-layered and complex, and for the most part, the movie manages to balance it. At the heart of this film is an unflinching portrayal of masculinity, addressing its courage, its camaraderie, its crassness, and even its shortcomings. It touches on additional themes involving family drama and underdog stories. While Only the Brave manages to cover a lot in its run-time, that doesn't mean it's always successful. Despite featuring several big-name actors, only two characters get enough screen time at the expense of everyone else, and while the film is introspective about the traditional gender dynamics featured, that introspection comes late in the movie. As a result, those themes are underdeveloped and rely on cliches. What is there is very well done, though, and raises important points on both perspectives. As easy as it would have been to make Only the Brave simplistic Oscar-bait, it's pleasantly surprising to find a nuanced, well-crafted gem in a forest of bad cinema.