Home of the Brave (2006)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Irwin Winkler

Writers (WGA):

Mark Friedman (screenplay)
Mark Friedman (story) ...

Release Date:

1 March 2007 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Coming home is the real battle.

Plot:

Three soldiers struggle to readjust to life at home after returning home from a lengthy tour in Iraq.

Plot Keywords:

Flashback | Death | Shot To Death | Interracial Friendship | Movie Theater

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson	...	Will Marsh
Jessica Biel	...	Vanessa Price
Brian Presley	...	Tommy Yates
50 Cent	...	Jamal Aiken (as Curtis Jackson)
Christina Ricci	...	Sarah Schivino
Chad Michael Murray	...	Jordan Owens
Victoria Rowell	...	Penelope Marsh
Jeffrey Nordling	...	Cary (as Jeff Nordling)
Vyto Ruginis	...	Hank Yates
Sam Jones III	...	Billy Marsh
James MacDonald	...	Ray
Sandra Nelson	...	V.A. Hospital Doctor
Jack Serino	...	Pvt. Shar
Brendan Wayne	...	Spc. Pendilla
Mohamed Zinathlah	...	Amad Kamal

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | Morocco

Language:

English | Spanish | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the one soldier decides to re-enlist, as he is saying goodbye to his parents and getting into the taxi, the cover he puts on is an older style Navy/Marine Corps 8-point cover.

Quotes:

Will Marsh: Buck Fush? Buck you, you son of a bitch.

Movie Connections:

References Forever Lulu (2000)

Soundtrack:

Go with It

Home of the brave

In fact I expected to see another patriotic movie about "the heroic, liberating" battles of the American army in Iraq, but I was surprised.I think the movie is extraordinary because of the aspect in which the war is revealed.Not about the victory or lose of battle on the field but losing the battle with yourself with your fears and traumas you cannot overcome for life.I think maybe this film is misunderstood to a significant extent by most people who had never been in the army, because they can never be aware of the shock and stress on the battlefield and the anti-social effect upon you when you are in the army and you don't think about daily problems, but you only struggle to survive and the only hope that keeps you going is one day to get home, see your family, friends, relatives.But in the battlefield when your only dream and hope is to get home, you make it perfect and ideal in your dreams, and of course the next is step is the disappointment and depression when you get back and see that instead of sympathy for your suffers you meet hate, instead of gratitude you meet indifference.And as in life people forget quick, you are also forgotten, as all your friends you left in the desert.Maybe that is the strong point of the movie - the clearly universal human reveal of what war brings along and that the romantic and heroic is left behind the hatred and desperation.You are called no war hero - but war criminal.But it is also not only government, institutions and army guilty about the war, but all society because it elected and supported this government.As some of my colleagues and some boys I don't know from our brigade, that never came home, and for all young men that never lived to see their home again I rate this movie 10.And I think they deserve respect as humans, that went to fight for a cause, that they did not choose to fight for.But better fight for something than live for nothing.The history shall judge if their sacrifice was in vain.