HOME OF THE BRAVE (2006)

TITLE
Home of the Brave

STARRING
Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Presley, 50 Cent, Christina Ricci, Victoria Rowell, Chad Michael Murray

WHAT THE BOX DOESN'T TELL YOU
The adjustment of four soldiers (Jackson, Biel, Presley, and 50 Cent) to civilian life upon their return from the war in Iraq, where they suffered casualties and combat wounds far beyond imagination is followed. As cities and lives are rebuilt abroad, these individuals struggle to envision their own lives returning to normal.

WHY I WOULD RENT IT AGAIN
I wrestle with what a movie like this can teach us. Perhaps it is designed to enlighten, and if so, should avoid scenes, which feel much more like a Lifetime Movie than a major motion picture. I rent a movie like this and I am reminded of why something like Jarhead, Good Morning Vietnam, or Born on the 4th of July are so much more effective. I essentially felt trapped in a series of bad performances and lack of direction. The Marsh Family (Jackson) scenario is especially excluded from this statement. Surprisingly enough, it casts Victoria Rowell as matriarch, who is familiar to fans of the soap, The Young and the Restless, where she played Drucilla Winters since the early '90's. The movie tackles too many issues, righteousness of war, horrors of combat, righteousness of of the U.S., reintegration post-service, etc., to do any one of them justice. An Irwin Winkler-directed picture, I wonder if it is simply missing Kevin Kline as both of his previous directions in De-Lovely and Life As a House were wonderful forays into storytelling of a most impressive, and sometimes horrific nature.

WILL MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND LIKE IT?
Hmmmm......hard to say.

SPECIAL FEATURES
A shocking lack of......

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