At the beginning of 'Only the Brave' we are told that the film is based on a true story. At about the 4/5 point of the movie I had to ask myself whether the true story was simply that fire fighters exist. The reason for this was that almost nothing happens for the first 2 hours of the film. It just plots along, slowly developing characters and skipping from one drama-less scene to the next. By the end of the film you find out why they were taking the time to make you care for these characters, but there certainly had to be more exciting ways to go about it.
The film plays it very safe. There is no explicit language, very little in the way of violence and even the drug implications near the beginning are played very safely. At times 'Only the Brave' feels like a film designed for children to watch. I think that's why the 134 minute runtime drags so much. The filmmakers were afraid to be daring in any way and that often makes for a difficult film to watch.
I didn't hate 'Only the Brave'. It's actually a very well made movie technically. I just know that films like this based around true events can be done so much better. Don't be fooled by the 7.7 rating on IMDb. There are much better films out there worthy of your time.
The film plays it very safe. There is no explicit language, very little in the way of violence and even the drug implications near the beginning are played very safely. At times 'Only the Brave' feels like a film designed for children to watch. I think that's why the 134 minute runtime drags so much. The filmmakers were afraid to be daring in any way and that often makes for a difficult film to watch.
I didn't hate 'Only the Brave'. It's actually a very well made movie technically. I just know that films like this based around true events can be done so much better. Don't be fooled by the 7.7 rating on IMDb. There are much better films out there worthy of your time.