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Bookmark this pageThe Brave (1997)
Director: Johnny Depp
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Depp's directorial debut is a folie de grandeur. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the story, in which Depp, a Latin or Native American - it's unclear which - living with his wife and kids in a shanty town next to a garbage dump, decides to help his family escape poverty by being paid a fortune for his own death. But after the scenes in which he makes his deal with Brando - a snuff-movie producer? (again it's unclear) - the film goes seriously off the rails as it forsakes glum realism for maudlin sentiment and whimsical, symbolic fantasy (Depp gets back in touch with his kids and builds a fairground for the other dispossessed). Besides the implausibilities, the direction has two fatal flaws: it's both tediously slow and hugely narcissistic as the camera focuses repeatedly on Depp's bandana'd head and rippling torso.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Johnny Depp
Producer: Charles Evans, Carroll Kemp
Cast: Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Elpidia Carrillo, Marshall Bell, Frederic Forrest, Max Perlich full cast
Duration: 123 mins
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