Wade Tait

C-R-I-N-G-E Unlike the very well made ‘Only The Brave’, I didn’t see any qualified advisors listed in the credits and it shows throughout; from small oversights (blisters from what look like footlocker boots on a seasoned professional?) to baffling faux-pas (any scene with lightning). The casting, despite being riddled with excellent actors, doesn’t help either. While not all female firefighters are built like decathaletes its hard to ever really believe the awkward and waifish Jolie could pass a fitness test, let alone pack 100+ pounds out of the wilderness. Outside perhaps the impressively played sheriff it never felt like any rural Montana town i’ve known. Like New Yorkers that say y’all, the film tries cloak itself in the cachet of the mountain west but never bothers to show it much respect let alone learn much from it. The endless stream of nonsequiturs and the lopsided focus on the gruff is not only distracting but leaves you with the feeling that the only interest in the profession and the setting is to serve as contrivance for some urbanites shallow fantasies about western escapism.