Only the Brave (2017)

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Starring: Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly

Based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a group of elite firefighters who risk everything to protect a town from a historic wildfire.

This was my most anticipated film of 2017, and also the biggest disappointment. The film has your typical American stereotyped characters with typical American stereotyped back stories. I also found the character introductions typical American and dragged out. Couldn’t they have skipped the petty crap and jumped right into the action? Uhmmm, then again, the film is almost entirely made up of petty crap and silly character confrontations. They are so annoyingly American. The film is also overlong for no reason. I found myself wanting to hit the forward button more often than not to try and move the film along. By the time the real action started, I’ve lost interest. The action also comes and goes in the blink of an eye. Also – and here’s a spoiler alert – the firefighters move toward the flames, but when they get too close, they lie flat on the ground under their ‘fireproof’ blankets. The result is them burning to death. Uhm, duhhh!!! What did they expect? Lie there and wait for the flames to subside? How did they think they would survive by just lying there??? This was a big yawner.

The film only earned $23 million on a $38 million budget. It figures…