Stream it now Home of the Brave Reset Status Want to Watch Already Watched Don't Want to Watch

wow it is cool You want to chat with me alturl.com/eokrr

Varied messages and skewed perspectives abound in this calamity of Iraqi war aftermath victims. Home of the Brave has good intentions and controversial subject matter, but it doesn't translate into an entertaining bit of cinema. Actors such as Samuel L. Jackson who usually churn out admirable performances are left with nothing to work with due to an obnoxious script and meager supporting characters; asinine dialogue carelessly peppers this defenseless cinematic convoy.....

Read the rest of Mike's review @

www.moviepulse.net

When you make a film about a war there are bound to be politics involved. I mean, come on, this is Hollywood for crying out loud. Every film must decide, at some point, whether it is for or against the particular war that it portrays -- or at least that is how critics like myself will see it. In this light, Irvin Winkler's Home of the Brave seems to have a bit of identity crisis, never really deciding whether it wants to be for or against the war in Iraq -- but in this case, indecision may not be the film's only fault.

The story centers around members of an Army Reserve squadron from Spokane, Washington, all of whom were involved in a terrible convoy ambushing right before they were due to come home after a lengthy tour in Iraq. It shows how the war affected their lives once they returned home, all of them struggling greatly to return back to normal life. Samuel L. Jackson, in a role with no snakes and no badass-ness, plays a doctor who battles alcoholism and a son who wears a "Buck Fush" t-shirt to school to speak out against the war. Jessica Biel plays Vanessa, a member of a maintenance company who lost her hand during the convoy attack. Brian Presley and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson play cavalry soldiers, both who were wounded and lost a close friend (Chad Michael Murray) during the battle.


The film begins in Iraq, showing the brutal day that changed the lives of these soldiers. The battle scene does not linger, but it does stick around long enough to make its point. The scenes of the streets of Iraq before the battle, slow pans with little score behind them, remind the audience of the depressing level of Iraq's situation. The actual battle sequence itself is brief but brutal, Winkler does a good job of showing the blood to the audience, but never shoving it in our faces.

From there the film begins to unravel. At some points it begins to feel like an anti-war political ad that you would see on television, with soldiers meeting in public and jumping into an all too predisposed conversation about how people treat them differently after they have been to war. It is not to say that this message, among others, couldn't fit in a film or doesn't belong -- it is truly just poor delivery. Other points of the film seem to take on a more somber approach, paying homage to the bravery of the soldiers who fight.

The performances in the film are also just mediocre. Samuel L. Jackson, who left his usual foul-mouthed persona at the door, gives a hollow and often forced performance. As his character begins to spiral downward into the abyss of alcoholism, his performance dives with him. So too does this film continue to spiral downward, into the dumps of being just another "nice try". Someone should give Irwin Winkler an "at-a-boy" pat on the back and kindly remind him to stick to producing and let the real directors direct. In the end, Home of the Brave is a reflection of itself, its only emerging theme being that once you come home, something stays with you -- thankfully once you return home from a viewing of this flick, should you be so bold, you can forget that it ever happened.

it is not that it was bad I just never understood its purpose.

The emotions in this film just feel fake. The whole feels fake and heavy handed.

(***):

A good cast and overall, a well-made movie. I really got involved in the story and strongly recommend this to people who are interested in the aspect of people coming back from Iraq.

Unrealistic in how whimpy the characters ended up. Studies have shown that people who served in Vietnam are less likely to go crazy than people who stayed stateside. This movie about the Gulf War turns this idea on its head and transforms some strong characters into basket cases. The writing stank. It had such good potential. It did not fall apart until the soldiers went home.

Im an Iraq War Veteran. Infantry (Airborne Ranger) and I was injured during my second tour. Probably worse than anybody that reads this could ever imagine. I started watching this movie cause the description interested me. "Soldiers adjusting to being back home after Iraq". I was impressed when I saw the cast of Jessica Biel, Samuel L. Jackson. Good choice on the cast. And the movie trully has a great message to put out. But as we say in the Army...Good initiative, Bad judgement. The movie is portraying the soldiers as if whenever we meet we cry in each others soldiers and start talking about what medication were on. Like I said, its got a great message. But it could have been directed better. The confrontation between Samuel L. Jackson and his son after the "Buck Fush" issue at his school was priceless. Were not over there for oil. Civilians are completely misinformed. Easy to criticize something when you know nothing about it and all you listen to is CNN. The movie would have been great if better thought out. 50 Cent did a terrible job in portraying a soldier. We dont flip out whenever somebody asks us if were angry. We do have our issues and our problems. Mainly with our girlfriends back home not understanding what to expect. Pain and nightmares. Enjoy the movie but dont take it literally and dont take it to heart. Try to look into the message being put out.

Slightly disappointed - good start, let down by later developments. Soundtrack was very good if possibly aping Deer Hunter's in some place. $12m budget - wonder what that was spent on ? BBC can make radio drama on the same subject for 0.5% of that and be just as visual.....makes you think.

This is a good movie for a one or maybe 2 time watch. Kind of depressing but it takes a realistic look into the life of returning soldiers.