By Curt Schleier

Much of the political discourse about Iraq today centers on whether we should have been there in the first place and how do we get out of this mess now.  Very little is being said about the affect of the war on our soldiers and how we treat them when they return from war.  These last two questions are at the heart of HOME OF THE BRAVE, a film that should be applauded for its ambition, though not its execution.

Ironically, the film (earlier this year) and the DVD (now) are timely, if not timeless.  The Veterans Administration just released a report that said Iraq vets are becoming homeless far faster than soldiers from previous wars, including Vietnam.  And that may be only one of the problems they face.

HOME OF THE BRAVE seems an attempt to update the William Wyler classic, BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES; in that film returning World War II veterans discover that their lives and relationships with friends and loved ones have been dramatically altered.  Even if you’re not familiar with it, you’ve probably seen clips of Harold Russell, one of its stars.  The TV networks seem to roll them out every year around award ceremony time.  He is a double amputee and the only performer to win two Oscars for a single role, the first as Best Supporting Actor and another for being an inspiration to returning vets.

Sadly, this revision doesn’t pass muster.  Part of the problem is that each of the intertwined stories comes off like a cliché, as though the producers told screenwriter Mark Friedman, we need one guy who takes to drink, one who commits a crime, a woman, et al.  As a result, the actors come across more as caricatures than full-blooded characters, with no logical explanation for some of the things they do.


What appears to be a National Guard unit from Washington State is finally scheduled to rotate home.  But it has to go out on one more humanitarian mission, distributing medical supplies.  Of course, they are going to come under fire.  Of course people are going to be maimed and die. 

The puzzlement begins when the soldiers come home.  Usually when a unit returns after a lengthy deployment, there’s a ceremony and soldiers are greeted at the Armory by their families.  But here Will Marsh (Samuel J. Jackson) comes home in a cab and is greeted by his wife and ignored by a sullen son.  Marsh starts drinking and that soon affects his work.  This is not good under any circumstances, but since he appears to be a top surgeon, it creates at work and at home.

Vanessa Price (Jessica Biel) is a single mom and phys ed teacher at a local high school.  She lost her right hand on that humanitarian mission and were she not riding with Marsh, she probably would have died.  She breaks up with her boyfriend. 

Tommy Yates (Brian Presley), who was sort of the hero of the engagement, helping drive off the enemy.  He lost his best friend in the engagement, and is listless back home.  The owner of the gun shop where he’d worked had given his job to someone else and refuses to rehire him – but offers a discount on any future purchase.  His dad a retired cop and something of a bully has arranged for him to get a job on the Spokane P.D., but Tommy misses appointments and walks out on the test.


Finally there’s Jamal Aiken (Curtis Jackson, AKA 50 Cent), as an unstable soldier who snaps when his girlfriend refuses to see him on his return.

It’s not that these things don’t happen.  Returning vets take to drink, break up with loved ones and snap.  It’s just that here in this formulaic presentation, it’s hard to care about them.  Still, if ever a bad movie was worth a look, this is the one.  It can serve as a wakeup call that just because a war ends doesn’t mean it’s over.