Only The Brave (2017)

Truly a tale of brothers, fathers, husbands, firefighters but above all, heroes.

Only The Brave follows the rise and fall of the original "Granite Mountain Hotshots"; a forest fire-fighting crew who heroically saved the county of Yarnell, Arizona in 2013 but in turn, lost their lives in the blaze. All apart from young recruit, Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller), who survived to tell the tale of some of the bravest men in America.

One of the key story elements that really connects the audience to the Granite Mountain Hotshots is the camaraderie between them, the deep friendship that is performed so fantastically and is so easily believed from start to finish, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if the cast spent some extra months prior to filming just to become friends. I really think this film did the memory of those men a lot of justice in showing how the ties of friendship can transcend anything and sometimes save someone as much as fighting the fire around them. A perfect example is the story of Brendan McDonough, who drug-fuelled adolescence was turned around when Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) and the hotshots took a chance on him.

Josh Brolin provides an incredible lead for this film as the veteran firefighter, Eric Marsh, whose experience and knowledge honed his crew into a legendary team. He portrays this leader brilliantly whilst also displaying the troubles Marsh was facing at the time with respect and a true feeling of pain as he suffered through a troubled marriage, a fierce anger problem and the constant stress of the job he sacrificed everything for.

Another notable factor is the cinematography and camera work. The sweeping landscape shots over the vast green valleys give such a feeling of complete freedom, this then completely reversed in similar shots of engulfing flame and blackened hills, they really make you feel the devastation of the forests, like surveying a huge scar across the land. This switch is actually addressed within the film as Eric Marsh speaks to his crew and all the new members, stating that they should appreciate the landscape while they can because as soon as you're in the hotshot life "There's only one thing you're gonna be able to see and that's fuel". The wider shots aren't the only impressive ones though, the close-ups of the crew, perfectly crafted and framed, display a wealth of emotions throughout the film; painful moments, moments of joy, moments of unending fear. All of these feelings pushed against you so deeply that you feel as if you're on their shoulder, feeling it right there with them.

Something commendable that has gone unseen is the brilliant way Only The Braves weaves exposition into it's story. Not only is it subtle, completely validated and intricately placed, all the information the audience is given about how forest fire fighting works is necessary but sometimes not fully explained and that isn't a bad thing. The best example of this is the repeated mention of "working structure", the details of which are never explained but's implied that "working structure" is a different form of fire fighting that is much safer and less demanding than being a hotshot, so now we know that whenever it is mentioned, it completely natural for the characters to treat it as taboo or as a betrayal, mainly as that's where the Granite Mountain Hotshots kept losing members of their crew before being certified. This method of expositional writing is superb as it keeps all unnecessary information out and keeps obvious informing of the audience to a minimum, resulting in them learning as much as they need to about the job of a hotshot without feeling like they're being treated like an idiot.

In Summary, Only The Brave is a film that, above all, represents respect; for the job, for your friends, for the audience and for the memories of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

5/5 - Fighting fire with fire.