Home of the Brave (2006)

...there's certainly no denying the effectiveness of one unintentionally hilarious moment in which Biel's spurned boyfriend exclaims, "I guess it only takes one hand to push people away!"

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11/09/07

Patriotic claptrap masquerading as a touchy-feely salute to the troops.

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11/08/07

While the film tries to be sensitive to the people's plight, it does itself (and the soldiers) a disservice by presenting them as brittle, emotionally fragile victims.

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10/25/07

Missed opportunity for some cutting irony on behalf of indigenous people who have always been the victims in one way or another, of dubious celebrations like Thanksgiving, the laborers are instead merely a dramatic device - wallpaper really.

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10/21/07

Shows some significant strengths but ultimately misses the mark due to incompletely developed characters and hesitation to hit home as hard as the subject matter justifies.

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10/20/07

This is morose, head-shaking stuff, and director Irwin Winkler (Life as a House, De-Lovely) isn't one to ease up on the 'ol emotional manipulation button.

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09/18/07

It often undercuts its nobler goals by resorting to hammy dialogue and unnecessarily melodramatic contrivances.

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05/25/07

a clunky movie lacking subtlety, and full of bad dialogue that tries too hard to get its point across.

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05/10/07

I must say 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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05/10/07

A laughably clichéd, melodramatic, Oscar-courting prestige pic.

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02/25/07

Earnest but lazy, fitfully laughable and insulting, Home of the Brave is cowardly work.

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02/03/07

The cast is certainly worthy and they are clearly committed to their roles, but unfortunately HOME OF THE BRAVE just misses the mark.

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01/11/07

Sure, it's earnest -- sure, it's melodramatic. Yup, it's just barely this side of being a made-for-Lifetime TV soaper. But there's a mesmerizing power to this little film that comes from its sheer un-told-ness, from its right-now immediacy.

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01/02/07

Without question, an important, thought- and emotion-provoking film, certain to be controversial, and to be remembered.

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12/30/06

[Director] Winkler clearly loves these characters, and if he sometimes pushes too hard in his effort to make the audience share his affection it's forgivable under the circumstances.

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12/30/06

A predictable and not-bold-enough account of the struggles of a band of National Guard soldiers after returning home from the war in Iraq.

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12/24/06

Important subject, good intentions, bad movie...its sheer ineptitude trumps its noble aspirations.

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12/22/06

Dr, Will Marsh (Samuel L. Jackson) has to reintegrate with a family that no longer really understands him. The problem with the film is, while Winkler and writer Mark Friedman try, we can't really understand either.

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12/22/06