Joseph Kosinski’s career as a director has dabbled in virtual realities (Tron: Legacy) and alien wastelands (Oblivion), so it’s curious his third film is a down-to-earth tale of heroism that feels more Lifetime than Syfy. Based on a GQ article by Sean Flynn, it’s a true-life tale of an Arizona wildland firefighting crew — executed a little like a cheesy war film, emphasising brotherhood and sacrifice without much delicacy.
There’s no doubting their heroism, but their story could have been told less mawkishly.
The first half of the film details the origins of the Granite Mountain crew, led by Eric Marsh (Brolin) as he desperately attempts to earn ‘Hotshot’ status. In American firefighting, Hotshot is a recognised qualification, rather than some gung-ho bravado — but the film struggles to express this, leaving these early scenes of interest only to municipal interagency wildfire suppression enthusiasts. Elsewhere, the focus is on the strains that such a job takes on home life, and the risks they face.
The material feels undeserving for a superb cast, who are all solid. It’s a particular treat to see Brolin and Bridges exchanging Southern drawls, while Miles Teller gives a game turn as a junkie looking for redemption. But outside the key cast, the characters feel reduced to Southern stereotypes. The men are uniformly chest-bumping bros, swapping sexist anecdotes in between blasts of heavy metal; the women, meanwhile, are merely allowed to be fretting wives, and then only just. Andie MacDowell is essentially a featured extra. Jennifer Connelly’s most notable scene involves sponge-bathing a horse.
Acres of time is devoted to the vagaries of firefighter certification and the soapy family dynamics; less time is spent witnessing the actual firefighting — which is a shame, because when it arrives, we feel the stakes. Kosinski’s experience with computer-generated landscapes clearly comes through, and helps convey the challenges of a unique vocation. But the tragedy that follows plays like an excruciating melodrama, complete with the inevitable post-credits tribute to the real-life fallen. There’s no doubting their heroism, but their story could have been told less mawkishly.
