Samuel L. Jackson in Home of the Brave (2006)
It’s not entirely bad that one is forced to watch a Hollywood characterization of the war in Iraq, as it stood in 2006. That is, the movie Home of the Brave (2006) is a good reminder of how some in Hollywood perceive the military in general, and the war in Iraq specifically.
The movie is intended to be a touching storytelling of four veterans dealing with post traumatic stress after they get home from their tours in the sandbox. One dies. One finds a new boyfriend. Another gets counseling. And the last individual re-enlists.
The storyline suffers from multiple problems, perhaps the most important being that it doesn’t seem to have received much help from anyone who knows what they are talking about.
The opening combat scenes are of the crappier Hollywood variety, which is obvious to anyone who has ever had even the slightest amount of military training. To name just a few problems: no perimeter for the “base”, uncoordinated splitting up of a convoy, the pursuit of two terrorists by an understrength team with no intel or backup, Vietnam-era vests, M203 tubes that don’t get used when they probably should be, and so on. The fact that medevac is flown by a UH-1 with a Moroccan tail number indicates clearly that the Department of Defense didn’t like the script either, as they otherwise would have likely sponsored equipment and — more importantly — consulted in making some of the scenes more realistic.
After the first few minutes in make-believe Iraq, also known as Morocco, the movie transitions to Spokane, Washington. Unfortunately the story doesn’t get any better, as the unrealistic characterizations continue. Of the 4 veterans, all four are shown as suffering significant post traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD). This 100% PTSD rate is in stark contrast to the normal incidence rates for PTSD, which is likely somewhere between 12.5%1 and 35%2, depending on what source one trusts more.
The attitude of the script writers is obvious when Samuel L. Jackson in a drunken rant yanks his sons lip ring off, and then storms into a room of his house where he apparently arms himself with a gun for no apparent reason. Perhaps the message for viewers is that veterans are not to be trusted with guns, because they get drunk and then arm themselves in their own homes.
From a performance standpoint, the entire cast was unconvincing, except for the predictably solid Samuel L. Jackson who appears to have been held back by a crappy script.
One can almost sense the deliberations by the movie producers, realizing that the script is simply bad. In true Hollywood fashion, the solution is not to improve the script, but to bring in bigger name actors, namely Samuel L. Jackson. Jessica Biel is possibly intended to be another “big name”, but with her acting talents this is not entirely clear.
In short, if you have served in the military, this movie is likely to increase your blood pressure with its unfair characterizations.
On the other hand, if you are interested in an unrealistic depiction of the war in Iraq, Hollywood-style military operations, and PTSD as an epidemic, this is the one to go for.
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