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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Home of the Brave Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Presley, 50 Cent, Sam Jones III, Victoria Rowell and Christina Ricci Director: Irwin Winkler Scriptwriter: Mark Friedman MGM Running Time: 106 minutes Rated: R Home of the Brave is a series of stories about soldiers who served in Iraq. They do one last mission and sure, enough, there is an ambush plus roadside bombs and people are severely injured or die. The four soldiers are Brian Pressley, Jessica Biel, 50 Cent and Samuel L. Jackson, as a medical doctor. Brian got a leg wound and watched his best friend die. Jessica got the roadside bomb and lost her right hand. 50 Cent was traumatized and has recurring nightmares, and Jackson was a doctor who was overwhelmed by the wounds he had to care for. Director Irwin Winkler doesn’t ask the question, “Why are we in Iraq?” Instead, he explores war and its aftermath on the home front. The film begins with the military tragedy. Soon, the soldiers are recuperating in America and trying to have a semblance of normalcy. Brian can’t commit to a job, and ends up selling tickets at a movie house. Jessica Biel was a girl’s basketball coach, but finds playing with one hand difficult, plus she has a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and breaks up with her boyfriend. 50 Cent is on the borderline of a complete breakdown while Jackson heads for alcohol to dull the mental pain. The stories start to mix as the soldiers meet each other accidentally. No one complains about why their situations happened, just how to cope now and in that, the film is an expose’ of how recovering soldiers sometimes fall through the cracks. Home of the Brave has very good acting, especially Brian Presley, Jessica Biel and Samuel L. Jackson. Presley is teased in the film about his good looks. You will remember Presley from his days on television’s “Port Charles.” Jessica Biel (“The Illusionist”) does very well as the woman who lost her hand. This is an important part here, as war films don’t show a woman soldier as having severe wounds, but this happens in battle. She carries this well. Jackson was the doctor who saved her life. Jackson’s home life begins to suffer and this part, with wife Victoria Rowell, goes on too long. There are many confrontations as though this were needed to add minutes to the film. 50 Cent comes off as a competent actor and holds his own in his story. Home of the Brave does not glorify war and neither does it decry war. It is there and has to be dealt with. In the film, these four people chose to deal with it by enlisting and it forever changed them. The stories are harrowing and engrossing. Copyright 2006 Marie Asner
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