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Brave's worst cinematic sin, though, is its failure to convey the logistics of the action.
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A character talks about retiring, so the next time out. The storytelling also leans toward heavy-handed and clichéd: A lingering look at a character getting into a truck means. "That doesn't mean you can see everything coming," comes another's wise response.
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sharing your man with the fire" And "I went in with my eyes wide open," bravely asserts one long-suffering wife. The dialogue is similarly uneven, reeling from the guys' amusing banter to heavy-handed clichés that can tip toward the laughable: "It's not easy. But the domestic drama either doesn't fly - as with Marsh and his wife - or does, as with McDonough's fumblings toward fatherhood. The relationships built within the crew, particularly between McDonough and initial nemesis Chris "Mac" MacKenzie (a likeable Kitsch), provide some human ballast. On-screen, his greatest sin is that (predictably) he cares too damn much. More punches are obviously pulled with team supervisor Marsh (played by the at-home-in-his-own-skin Brolin), whom, we're told, has made enemies with his attitude. Luckily, Teller is a skilled actor who more or less sells it. McDonough has a pretty easy time of it, going from unbelievably stupid crackhead to dedicated family man and reliable wildlands firefighter with surprisingly little on-screen struggle. But the film clearly treats its real-life subjects with kid gloves. Only the Brave is at its strongest in the easy camaraderie of the elite firefighters, with their goofing around and male bonding. There's a lot to like here: the dialogue, the relationships, the technical expertise but there's also a lot to not like here: the dialogue, the relationships, the technical expertise.
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