Only the Brave serves up emotional tribute piping hot

Movie Title:
Only The Brave

Grade: A-

Rating: PG-13, 2 hours 14 minutes

In a Nutshell: Based on a true story and an article written in GQ Magazine, this is a timely film that spotlights true heroes who fight fires. More specifically, it honors the real men called the Granite Mountain Hotshots in Arizona.

Uplifting theme:

The motto of the Granite Mountain Hotshots is “Esse quam videri,” which means “To be, rather than to seem.”
Brotherhood, unity, loyalty
Courage
Family
Second chances and forgiveness
“Doing something that’s never been done before takes time.” – Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges)

Things I liked:

Wow, how did they film some of those scenes? The fire looks very real. Great job.
You get to see pictures of the actual men who served in the Granite Mountain Hotshots team at the end of the movie.
Jennifer Connelly makes a gorgeous cowgirl and gives the best stand-out performance in the movie. Her emotional range was stellar. She spent time with the real Amanda Marsh to prepare for her role in the film.
Jeff Bridges sings in a band called “Steinbrink and the Rusty Pistol” in a bar scene!
I thought it was interesting that the famous travel empire, Conde Nast, was involved with this film. You see some beautiful Arizona landscapes.
In terms of emotion and exciting fire action, Only The Bravereminded me of the 1991 movie Backdraft, which I loved.
Congrats to Miles Teller for having two movies in theaters at the same time! He’s currently also starring in Thank You for Your Service
I liked Dierks Bentley’s featured song Hold The Light (From “Only The Brave”) [feat. S. Carey]

Things I didn’t like:

There are several other movies also titled “Only the Brave”, but they are not related to this movie. Seems like they could have picked another title, right?
There were some scenes that were annoyingly dark, as in, I couldn’t see the expressions on people’s faces when they were talking in a dark room. I’m sure it was an artistic choice, but it still bugged me.
Sometimes you can’t quite hear the dialogue, because there are so many other sounds going on.
I like Jeff Bridges, but lately he only plays the same old character in all of his movies. This is the first time he and Josh Brolin have worked together in a film since True Grit, another fantastic movie where Jeff Bridges plays the same kind of character. Don’t get me wrong…he does it very well!
Lots of spitting. ha ha