Firefighters’ true tale alight with heroism
AS wildfires rage in California, there’s no better time for a tribute to the people who risk their lives battling them. And “Only the Brave,” the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, who fought a horrifying blaze in Yarnell, Ariz., mostly makes up in heart what it lacks in character development.
Josh Brolin anchors this drama from director Joseph Kosinski (“Oblivion”) as Eric Marsh, superintendent of the Prescott, Ariz., firefighters, who aims to get his boys upgraded to the status of “hotshots” — the men who fight on the front lines of wildfires. Miles Teller (pulling double patriotic duty in this and the upcoming “Thank You for Your Service”) is Brendan “Donut” McDonough, a slacker who joins the force in a bid to get his act together. You may recognize Taylor Kitsch among the faces of the other 18 firefighters, as well as Jeff Bridges as the local wildland division chief and Andie MacDowell as his wife.
“Only the Brave” is at its best at two extremes: in the middle of the action, as the firefighters do things like improbably light fires to contain bigger fires, and at home in the midst of banter between Eric and his wife, Amanda (Jennifer Connelly, who really should be in more movies), a working rancher who loves her husband and fears, rightly, for his safety.
The screenplay, by GQ journalist Sean Flynn, frequently assumes the average viewer is more conversant in firefighter lingo than I’d imagine most are, and its broad-strokes portrayal of Donut being good-naturedly hazed by his peers is less than compelling. But what goes down in Yarnell, and Kosinski’s respectful portrayal of it, is undeniably devastating — and a well-deserved salute to a group of low-key heroes.