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Home of the Brave
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Home of the Brave reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 42 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.3 out of 10
based on 15 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for war violence and language

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Curtis Jackson, Brian Presley, Christina Ricci, and Chad Michael Murray

Home of the Brave follows four returning soldiers as they survive the ravages of was in Iraq and then try to come home to continue their lives. (MGM)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Drama  |  War  
WRITTEN BY: Mark Friedman (also story)
Irwin Winkler (story)
 
DIRECTED BY: Irwin Winkler  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 23, 2007 
Theatrical: December 15, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Home of the Brave isn't exactly a subtle or a delicate picture -- it's an old-fashioned Hollywood movie, at least in tone, that's being released like an indie -- but it has some terrific acting and comes straight from the heart.
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63
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
While Mark Friedman's script is as unsubtle as Winkler's direction, their sincerity and the subject's sharp immediacy lend the film a certain power.
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60
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Timeliness is all very well, but the significant subject matter cries out for a defter directorial touch and a deeper complexity in regard to the characters and performances.
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50
Los Angeles Times Sam Adams
The movie's mild-mannerness is especially disappointing when compared with such documentaries as "The War Tapes" and the excellent "Home Front," vivid and incisive explorations of post-Iraq anger and disillusionment that have gone largely unseen by a disinterested public. If Americans are suffering from Iraq fatigue, Home of the Brave will do little to rouse them.
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50
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Had Home of the Brave presented credible stories about believable characters, it might have been a powerful drama.
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50
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Home of the Brave is a milestone of sorts. But it's a formulaic, overacted piece of work that rarely delves deep.
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50
TV Guide Ken Fox
Starts with a bang and ends in a long, protracted whimper.
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50
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Evenness of political keel, combined with a generic filmmaking style, is an artistic weapon way too puny for a successful assault on so tough, bruising, and crucial a subject.
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50
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The best thing about the movie is that it's interested in the soldiers, not the self-serving popinjays who seem to think the war is a big fat career-enhancing photo opportunity. The people who got shot at deserve most of the attention.
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40
The New York Times Stephen Holden
As this cautious, politically evenhanded movie grinds along like clockwork, the fuse that should spark an emotional explosion fizzles after some sporadic hisses and sputters.
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40
Village Voice Nathan Lee
As sincere as a three-legged puppy.
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38
New York Post Lou Lumenick
The apolitical and well-meaning Home of the Brave is predictable and maudlin.
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38
Premiere Ethan Alter
By straining to make a respectful war film for everyone, Winkler and Friedman have wound up with a toothless picture that won't satisfy anyone.
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33
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Whatever its model, the film is assembled from much poorer material, leftover parts of Lifetime movies and well-meaning indie films seen only on opening nights at some forgotten festival in Tampa.
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30
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Starts well with the stirring spectacle of young men and women, members of a National Guard unit stationed south of Baghdad, struggling to do their duty in an alien land of unfathomable danger. Once they return, however, wounded physically or shattered spiritually, the film turns didactic, contrived and occasionally ludicrous.

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jason B. gave it a2:
Home of the Brave is overly dramatic, cliché, terribly casted and nihilistic with moments of unintentional zaniness. Unbelievable on every level. I started cleaning my living room 3/4 of the way through. If I had paid to see this I would be even more upset.

Carmen S. gave it a9:
Don't expect too much war scenes in this movie. This movie look at the effects on our Iraq veterans from the "hearts" perspective. Good movie. It makes you realize what they gone through or going through.

Neil K gave it a4:
Sort of a mix between the VASTLY superior "Best Years of Our Lives" and an "ABC After School Special." It was OK... a film that may well be appreciated by the veterans of the Iraqi War and their families. Otherwise, SKIP IT. It just goes to show that if you have an Oscar, you can get an inexpensive film made... even with an obviously flawed and fixable script.

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