The Brave (1997)

The Worst Film Ever

Best movie ever!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

that kind of movie who could become a mirror. dark, honest, a not complicated story about sacrifice, options, hope and the rhythm of a small group looking happiness. almost brutal as example of honesty, it is proof of refined art. because propose an actor and a director who have profound science to explore each detail in splendid manner. because the result is a large fresco about pain and about not ordinary joy. because it is not a manifesto or a fresco, but a testimony. because it defines Johnny Depp in a new light, not surprising but unusual. it is a not easy film because the message is result of each image. because the purpose is to give a fascinating story of life without any ornament. only the naked truth. and that fact transforms it in support of reflection. short, not an easy film. but useful .

Directed by, co-written by and starring Johnny Depp, this movie is not for the faint of heart, but the brave few who can stand this movie. That's if you can find it. This movie is rare and hard to find in the states. Since Depp was deeply upset at the negative reviews received from the American critics attending an otherwise successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival. As a result he has refused to show the film in the United States. This movie is too gloomy and hard to watch in my opinion. It just a film that commit suicide by having a protagonist didn't even went out fighting or anything. It seems to me that he had several ways to get out of the deal in the end of the movie. Johnny Depp starts as Raphael, a Native American man who love his wife and family, but in desperate for a job and money living in a cycle of poverty environment. Rather than trying to exit his environment, acknowledge his barriers like his criminal record and dealt with his alcoholism. He doesn't try set realistic goals to get his family on the right track, but instead seek the easy way out by cowardly commit suicide in the oddest way, by having himself kill for a snuff film. This movie isn't uplifting, entertaining, or have some type of positive message. It's just a depression film of a man who lost all hope and agrees to participate in a snuff film trading his life for a large sum of money so that his wife and two kids can lead a decent life. He strikes a deal with McCarthy (Marlon Brando) and has one week to live. Since Raphael often absent presence in the life of his wife and children, he tries his best to make the time with them as great as possible. Imminent death affords Depp the chance to finally be a responsible father and husband and enjoy what left of his life. The story sprang from a 1991 novel by Gregory McDonald, best known as the man behind the long-running, lighthearted comedy 'Fletch' series. Many details were changed in the film version from the novel with the same name. I think the movie might have gone over a bit better if it had stuck closer to the source material. The movie even has a lot of missing scenes in some DVD versions out there. In a bootleg version of the film. The bad guy created a stigmata by driving a stake through his hand, just in case anyone in the audience misses the parallels between Raphael and Jesus. The main different was that the film tries too hard to makes Raphael look like a post-modern Jesus archetype, by having him sacrificing himself for his family, but he actually ended up looking like a loser doing it. Jesus didn't commit suicide because he was depress, alcoholic, and trying to earn money through that way. Jesus was sentenced by a court to die, Jesus purpose was to redeem humanity, while Raphael just gives up and lets the bad guys just kill him for no cause besides trusting a snuff filmmaker to provide his family after his death. Who knew that trusting snuff filmmakers is better than trusting, I don't know, your family. In no way toward the end of the film, does the bad guys get punish for their crimes, nor does he take steps to fight for his life. For having second billing Marlon Brando is barely in this film, sadly. Most of his scenes are just him rambling about life and death. Honestly, I didn't get what he was blathering on about but I'm pretty sure he or his henchmen Larry (Marshall Bell) barely explains the snuff film. The DVD box cover explains it more than the film. There is a scene, where the sadistic henchman Larry talks more about pooping while threating Raphael to keep to his promise to McCarthy. Are we supposed to take these bad guys serious? The movie goes a great lengths to be a smart film. I do like all the symbolisms examples like the face with the question mark, the way he is looking at his family while the background get dark, tribal drums playing over a long pan from imposing, oppressively sun baked mountains, etc. There were some really odd scenes like a man who runs around in what appears to be a giant hamster wheel and spends quality time fondling a goat that doesn't help the story. While it's beautifully photographed; it should have use the time to shines more on the immense poverty that thousands of Native Americans continue to face and how they can overcome it. Rather, we get a very slow paced story of death. If the audience knows if he will die in the end, and then why watch this film. What was the point of it all? Is it that when your wife and kids need you the most, it's okay if you volunteer to get tortured and killed for a snuff movie? It's pure nonsense to think that anyone would behave like Raphael do. It's totally unreal. Sorry, but the story is rather far-fetched. I think his family would rather have a father, than money. Overall: People, who advocate this movie, may say that the movie is about how much a man is willing to do in order to save his family. But he doesn't save his family, he gets himself killed for fast money. The Brave? I think this movie should be renamed, the Coward. Rafael took the coward way out. He could have lived and took the challenge of beginning a new life with his family. He chose to sacrifice himself to please evil man's desire. There is nothing beautiful about this mess.

Johnny Depp is one of the finest actors of Hollywood and I appreciate his attempt in directing. However, the final outcome of 'The Brave' is halfbaked. The film itself is quite boring with only a few notable sequences. The plot feels contrived, even though there's hardly anything going on most of the time. The cinematography is good in places. The dialogues are ineffective. Given the limited budget, the film does look slightly poor on the technical side but this is a very minor flaw. The music is pleasant to the ears but the use of it could have been toned down for more effect. The acting is very stagy. Marlon Brando fails to convince. Depp isn't bad but this is nowhere near any of his best works. There is good chemistry between him and Elpidia Carrillo. He has chosen a difficult story to direct but he does succeed in a few parts. He tries to use subtlety but ends up doing too much of it and as a result it's ineffective. Perhaps it would have been a wiser choice to direct something a little lighter and simpler.

I am a cinema maniac and have a DVD collection of nearly 1200 movies besides other 300 VHS, including all the Hollywood Academy Award Winners. My tastes go to Italian, English, French and American films of 1930,40, 50 and 60. But I see and buy films of today even being the distribution here around 90% of American films, the majority very bad, not to mention the real word. I missed THE BRAVE when it passed here in our cinemas and yesterday I noticed by chance that it was to be shown on TV. AS the director was Johnny Depp I decided to see it. I knew J. Depp as an actor only. I enjoyed the film very much. It has substance and so I decided to keep it. However Leonard Maltin's 2008 MOVIE GUIDE does not even mention it. Why ? Why did Johnny Depp not let his film to be released in the U.S. . Can someone please explain ?