The Brave (1997) User Reviews

Will Stay With You

[slightlymad22 · 7/10 · 28 February 2018]

Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to his first, and to date, only directorial effort The Brave (1997)

An unemployed alcoholic Native American Indian (Depp) lives on a trailer park with his wife and two children. Convinced that he has nothing to offer this world, he agrees to be tortured to death in a snuff movie in return for $50,000. He is given one week before he must make the movie.

Some of Depp's work is too sad or strange to watch often, but every movie in his unique filmography (at least at this point) deserves to be seen at least once. I don't think this is an easy watch, the first line of dialogue is not spoken until ten minutes into the film.

It's a slow mover, and truthfully it could have lost about 30 minutes and lost none of the impact. Depp is really good here. No surprise as he was always great. Thankfully Brando's screen time is limited and Luis Guzmàn pops up too.

I can see why some people will not like it, and complain nothing happens. You will probably not enjoy it. But it will certainly stay with you!!

Depp was so upset at negative reviews by American critics attending an otherwise successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival. He refused to release the film in the United States.

slow, sad film about poverty and braveness; respectable first-time directing work by Depp

[FieCrier · 6/10 · 17 February 2005]

I had read an article in a waiting room Entertainment Weekly while getting a punctured tire repaired, an article about unreleased (or little-released) films and albums by big-name directors and artists. An internet search indicates this was "Buried Treasure" by Tim Carvell in issue # 795, December 3, 2004. One of them was this film, unreleased in the US, but available on DVD in the UK. Happily I own a region-free player that does PAL-NTSC conversion (I wish they would abolish regional encoding!), and the DVD on the UK Amazon site was relatively cheap, so I ordered it.

I'm surprised to see that the author of the novel this film was adapted from was the author of the Fletch series! This is entirely different.

Johnny Depp plays a native American living with his wife, son, and daughter in a small trailer in a shantytown next to a garbage dump in the desert. Days seem to be spent mostly sleeping. He goes to town to apply for a job a man in a bar told him about. He goes to a pretty shady place, and we learn what the job is (reading the DVD box would tell you the same thing): to be tortured and killed (presumably on film) for $50,000. He's given some money up front (at least a couple thousand, not sure how much), and a week before he has to come back to do the job. Evidently in the book he's only offered $30,000 and given $200 up front!

He goes back home, and doesn't do much initially, but then tries bonding more with his family, who he'd grown apart from while drinking. He spends the money on things that delight his kids, but seem pretty frivolous. His wife is worried he's robbed a store or done something else that will get him put in jail again. He hopes the money will help his family move up in life, and it comes at an opportune time, since the shantytown is due to be demolished.

It's a bit longer than I think it need be, about two hours. However, it is well directed. I think Johnny Depp did a good job with it.

Marlon Brando's role is pretty small. He'd worked with Depp before in Don Juan DeMarco (1995), quite a different movie than this one! Iggy Pop, who worked on the soundtrack has a short cameo as a man at a fiesta eating a giant drumstick.

Nice try, Johnny! But not enough...

[rainking_es · 5/10 · 16 March 2007]

For anyone who's followed Johnny Depp's career it was pretty interesting to watch his first movie as a film director. The story he chose dealt with an Indian-Mexican-whatever (it's not very precise) that's gonna make a big sacrifice for his family. What kind of sacrifice? Well, you'll have to watch "The Brave" to know it, 'cause thats the movie's main secret. They're poor, they live in a place that looks like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre farm... Everything's so tough. One of Depp's biggest mistakes was not to give a normal personality to any of the characters. They're all so eccentric, they're all freaks, and that makes the story a little bit unbelievable. He shouldn't had played the main character, because he looks more like a "cock-rocker" than like a wretched Indian native. Besides, the script has no rhythm at all, and it's quite irregular.

In short: "The brave" is not as bad as all the critics think, and we have to thank Depp for trying to make a different cinema, so influenced by his friends Jarmusch or Kusturica. But he's not Jarmusch, he's a great actor, not a director. Anyway, this was his first try... Let's give him a break.

*My rate: 5/10

Poor

[Michael_Elliott · 2 March 2008]

Brave, The (1997)

* (out of 4)

Johnny Depp's directorial debut is a film I've been dying to see since I first heard about it back around 1996. In the film Depp plays an American Indian who can't get a job due to being a drunk and this doesn't leave much of a future for his wife and two children. Somehow he is introduced to a man (Marlon Brando) who offers his $50,000 to be tortured and killed in a snuff film. With no other future in site the man takes the job. There's been all sorts of reasons why this film was never released in America. I've heard stories of Depp being mad at American critics who trashed the film in Cannes and I've heard the storyline was just too depressing for release here. I think the real reason is that the film is simply a piece of junk. Since Depp was director, star and co-writer he certainly has to take the majority of the blame. The film has a terrific storyline but he doesn't do a thing with it and in the end the film is simply a mess. Everyone delivers their lines at such a slow and drawn out way that had they sped it up just 1% then I'm sure the film would have lost an hour of its running time. The performances are also dull and that includes Brando. I might sound like George here but this film has gotten a lot of great reviews from fans but to me it sounds like people love this film just because it has a foreign, non-Hollywood feel to it. Add in the fact that he didn't get released and they seem to be hailing this as some sort of masterpiece that "normal folks" can't "get". I think Depp is an incredibly talented guy but you wouldn't know it by watching this film.

Good story but weak way of telling it

[PeterRoeder · 6/10 · 4 April 2011]

I agree with those that say, that this is a good story. It's like a Twilight Zone episode. In the beginning, one is intrigued and guessing what will happen but then that breaks down, and it doesn't seem to be fantasy anymore. It just seems like we don't really believe in the story or the characters anymore. Why would any of them act like that? Seriously, I really think Rod Serling could have gotten some great stuff out of this, apparently, Hostel-like story and setup. The subject of snuff-movies is an epic theme, but this way of telling the story is just so weak that we lose interest. Still it is a lot more interesting than the average movie, and clearly Johhny Depp is a talented director but he should really have thought some more about creating some excitement in this story.

Why was it not released in the US ?

[fnas-1 · 7/10 · 9 July 2008]

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 ?

Good plot, bad way of show it

[Morfindel_Werwulf · 7/10 · 10 February 2019]

This film is good, has a good plot, but I guess that the "job" should be clear at the beginning. I don't know if I am dumb and it is clear beforehand or if I have watched a cut version of it, but I only understood what the money was for when Depp's character tells about it to the priest. Besides that this movie has good acting, and a good plot. I really enjoyed how it criticizes our capitalist modern world. An world where, to some people, your only way to raise your family is to sacrifice yourself.

An opportunity missed

[artwk · 3/10 · 4 August 2006]

Given that "The Brave" was based on a novel with a fascinating but disturbing concept, it could and should have been an excellent movie. Depp's direction is competent, the acting overall is good, but the film is overlong and poorly structured. The opening sequences give no hint whatever of what is to follow, and even the Brando character's payment of $50,000 in cash tells the viewer little. Is Depp supposed to come back in a week and carry out a contract killing? Who knows? Who cares? The closure was well handled, and the film would have been weakened if it had gone on to show the main character's suffering and death. But the film would have benefited from a brief glimpse at the very start, or at least an intimation, of what would happen at the end. It's not surprising that many viewers found the film boring. The pace is desperately slow, and much of the film has one itching to press the fast-forward button.

Everyone should watch it if they have the chance, but don't expect to go away smiling.

[Chili_Padmez · 9/10 · 26 January 2004]

Wow. I just watched The Brave. Before I saw it, I knew that it was the only film which Johnny Depp has directed. After seeing it, I can add 'unfortunately' to the beginning of the fact. In every film that he's been in, nevermind the quality of the film itself, Johnny Depp has always given a wonderful performance. As a director, he's no different. The Brave is truly outstanding. How to describe the film? It's impossibly really. All I can say is...wow. Every actor is great. It's hard to get good child actors, but here it had been done. Johnny Depp is fantastic as usual, the wife is brilliant too. I don't think that there is a single performance that I would criticise. With the film, I did something that I've never done before - I didn't move for the last 10 or 20 minutes, and when it was over, I just sat through the credits completely in shock, crying. I even stayed in front of the DVD menu for a while afterwards, completely still. How anyone can call this film 'boring' is beyond me. Heartbreaking, uncomfortable, yes, but it is far from boring. Everyone should watch The Brave if they have the chance, but don't expect to go away smiling.

An Interesting, Original Film

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 31 December 2012]

A down-on-his-luck American Indian (Johnny Depp) recently released from jail is offered the chance to "star" as the victim of a snuff film...

I should first say that I watched the Korean important version, which has over 20 minutes cut from the full version. I am unclear how much difference this makes, but it does seem to create a minor continuity problem here or there. I would gladly watch it again in the full version just to see what I missed.

This film captured the 1990s. The darkness, the nihilism. Surely not everyone approached the 90s this way, but industrial music was at its peak, and films like "Seven" and the works of Tim Burton were at the forefront of popular culture...

Casting Johnny Depp as an Indian was debatable, of course, as he only vaguely looks the part. But he does bring a certain star power to the film that probably gets it noticed by more people this way. And if Marlon Brando could be Mexican in "Viva Zapata", why can Depp not be Indian here? (In fairness, his great-grandmother was Cherokee, so it is not completely a fabrication... just mostly.)

Depp's one foray as writer/director/actor has not, understandably, been repeated. A movie that strives for depth and profundity but fails.

[ivan-166 · 4/10 · 27 July 2005]

This is really a very weak movie. The script is poor, the music sounds like a contribution from a mate of Johnny's and the direction is weak. Depp is really very unconvincing playing a Native American who has lived a hard, down-and-out life of poverty and failure (too well-spoken for a start) and his acting looks especially thin in the brief scene with Marlon Brando who seems to remind us what real acting is, although Brando's contribution (along with Marshall Bell's) is not enough to save this film. The only compelling scenes are the ones with Bell and Brando with the rest appearing as weak filler which fails to properly establish mood, depth or content or hold the attention.

The main faults are with Depp's acting (very shallow, altogether unconvincing and invoking little sympathy from this viewer), the characterization, the realization of the story and the direction. Perhaps most crucially, the story itself reaches for profundity but is pretty contemptible - if Raphael really loved his children he wouldn't be throwing away his life for some short-term bucks, thereby robbing them of the lifelong love and support of their father and increasing the likelihood of permanent disadvantage and psychological damage. The film does not explore this side of the situation and seems to infer some sort of deeper meaning and selflessness in his act (i.e., he is the "brave one", as well as the Native American "Brave" - the puerile turgidity of this pun suggests the facile nature of the film).

The plot also toys with ideas that are insufficiently explored or developed, tacked on, pointless or implausible: for example, the last-minute conversion to Native American spiritualism, which seems to go nowhere, mean nothing and develop nothing; there is the lunacy of giving up his life so his children can have the money to get out of the hole they're in and then spending much of it on a trashy fun park and a big party (perhaps intended to demonstrate the protagonist's generosity and good-heartedness but in a way that robs his gesture of value and meaning); there is the question of how the priest is supposed to ensure Raphael's family get the money from such vicious types as the film depicts; and the priest's sudden change from fury at the protagonist's fatal decision to a sort of stymied resignation and his ultimate failure to try and stop him on the day, which really makes little sense in light of his character and previous actions.

There is certainly social comment here but it's pretty ham-fisted. The Native Americans live in a garbage dump (not so subtle symbolism) and the film generally suggests the corner that the poor (especially poor non-whites) are backed into and the lack of regard for their lives by those with money and power. However, this too seems pretty thin, obvious and half-baked (try watching a Ken Loach or Mike Leigh film Johnny). Furthermore, by making two such louche and mysterious characters the villains in this social commentary, Depp does not point the finger of culpability in a very suggestive direction. In the final wash-up, it just doesn't explore the choice he makes with any real depth or profundity.

it lingers

[bijindesu2 · 10/10 · 29 October 2003]

I just saw this movie on DVD. As soon as I finished watching, I felt I had to see it again.

The thought of being killed for money may sound bizarre, but in this movie, it's very realistic.

The movie caught the mindset of a man about to be sacrified very well and you could feel the intensity. It neither condemned nor aprove his decision. But his actions all made sense, so we sympathize but not pity him.

Johnny Depp played the role so well, he was able to convince us that he was just doing his best to help his beloved family.

"The Brave" and "Execution of Private Slovik"

[tarkanlove · 6/10 · 9 November 2006]

I watched THE BRAVE tonight and it reminded me of EXECUTION OF PRIVATE SLOVIK. Yeah, I know those two have very different plots and are quite different in every way, but didn't anyone find some likeness in how Raphael and Private Slovik were assigned to die by the end? In the mid-part of both movies, it wasn't quite certain for the characters and even for who was watching that any of the characters would die. Slowly, then, it keeps becoming more and more likely they are really going to. Isn't it similar how Raphael and Slovik become resigned as they notice what's going on and have only a last moment mourning when death is visibly near? Raphael cries by his resting family and Slovik cries as the priest blesses him for his death.

Worst movie I have seen and ever will

[davidbeckers137 · 1/10 · 16 June 2012]

Don't get fooled by the title. It does not refer to Johnny Depp. No it refers to the viewer who is brave enough to endure this waste of time. I watched this movie at a friends house and I did not know the movie, but he said it got good reviews. We were all outraged that Johnny Depp wasted 2 hours of our lives with this crap. Most boring movie ever. We wanted to turn it off, but my friend said that it had a good ending. He lied. Afterwards we decided to give him a couple of punches for this terrible movie, and it was the last time he decides which movie we'll see. If somebody you don't like asks you: Hey seen any good movies lately? Point him towards The Brave.

Loved it

[naomijessurun · 6 May 2007]

I had this movie for like 3 months.. But I never really had the time to just sit down and watch it.. Today I had the whole day off so I watched The brave.. It almost made me cry.. it didn't end as i hoped it would.. Johnny is once again brilliant and hot in this movie..I didn't knew this was the movie that johnny also directed.. So I guess this man can do everything.. After Chocolat, this is the best movie of johnny depp (I've not seen them all though).. I do hope it wasn't based on a true story or anything like that?? Anyways, I hope johnny makes lots and lots of more movies..

I really did like it.. Good job. Kisses

The brave or the discriminated one?

[esteban1747 · 7/10 · 16 August 2003]

Sometimes thoughts and ideas are not well or incompletely expressed, and this is what, in my opinion, happened to Johny Depp when he made this film. Personally I believe that Depp, as the director and main actor of the film, wanted to reflect the living conditions of the American Indians, their problems and difficulties, and the way they must solve them. However, the plot does not convince everyone about a solution of a suicide in a film shot. Perhaps other ways of looking for solutions, also risky, should have been a better proposal and more believable to everyone. However, the film showed some morale of the Indians in confrontation with Christian believes. Justice should be always compatible with religion. If this goes the other way around, in such a case it would be better not follow it.

"Dr Faustus" with an American Indian twist

[JuguAbraham · 7/10 · 11 January 2003]

"The Brave" is a film based on an interesting variation of the Dr Faustus theme of selling your soul for immediate gain--in this case, pecuniary gain for an American Indian living off a garbage dump.

Obviously Mr Brando would find the American Indian's social and political plight close to his heart. Depp, the director, makes the social statement in a heavy handed way--the sun scorching on a pile of rubbish that seems to be last frontier for the American native living in the US at the end of the twentieth century. It is a hard life, and "the Brave" knows that he cannot have a bright future for his two kids and wife living in a ramshackle caravan. Yet the modern "Brave" looks wistfully at new houses being built for those have the money from the bus he takes to town and makes a "brave" decision to sell his soul/body.

This is not a film one would expect Hollywood to make. It has a thorough "independent" flavor to it. The brothers Depp who wrote the story are probably looking at parallels to the American Indian psyche over centuries: honesty (the Brave keeps his word), family values (the Brave gives his life for the sake of his family), strong religiosity (he trusts the Christian priest and gives him the responsibility of ensuring the family gets the money, suggestions of crucifixion, etc.). This is what the Brando character with tears in his eyes recognizes in the Brave.

This is a clean film--no gratuitous violence or sex abound. Instead you are provided some interesting reflective statements on life, death and sacrifice with lucre as the underpinning force. It is an honest film that reminds you of "Billy Jack" minus the sex and violence.

What makes the film weak is the direction. I was amused to see the priest with his sacramental vestments on the street watching Depp the actor proceed on his final journey. Depp the director seems to love adopting cinematic statements that were popular in the Sixties and Seventies, e.g., the final journey, the closed warehouse with lifts to heaven/hell, etc. Johnny Depp is good as an actor, but he is out of his depth as a director. What is creditable is the music by Iggy Pop and co., which blends with the film's philosophy. The performances are about average (Luis Guzman, Frederick Forrest, Elpida Corrillo) and even the kids look real. Brando and Depp are, of course, a delight to watch.

I wonder why Depp made this film. Was it just because his brother wrote the story? Does he identify with the American Indian? Is he religious? Or was the story important for Depp at a difficult period in his life? Actor Richard Burton chose to direct "Dr Faustus" with himself in the main role. The effort was great drama which few appreciated. But then Depp is not in the same league as Burton.

See it for Brando's five minutes (magic), but as a whole it fails.

[Ben_Cheshire · 3/10 · 23 February 2004]

This is a very mixed-up movie, which just doesn't come off at the end. Its an unusual, dark, story about a man who decides to sell his life to a strange man (played by Brando in a very moving, electric five minute cameo, the only real reason to see this movie - its about twenty minutes in) in exchange for a sum of money which will be used to give shanty-town-dwelling family a better life. The people at Cannes, or some such film festival, went for it and gave it a prize - but i'm not so sure i agree. It takes risks, by being weird and unconventional, but it does so in an empty way. It sacrifices having a real emotional centre, and most of it simply doesn't follow. The character-motivations do not all link up. Like, if Depp's character gave his life for this money, why does he p*** it away on a widescreen TV and other niknaks which may make the audience go "wow, that's what money buys" but in terms of practicality for the poor girls who have to miss out on an education and a good home, i didn't think it made sense at all. I think Johnny Depp is a class act, a superb actor, made all the more great for the fact that he's not scared to play parts far removed from himself, and indulge in imitation and mimickry, something method actors are shy of, because there is little room to identify and feel your character, because the character is so different from yourself (how do you go about "feeling" the part of an invention with scissors for hands? Or Errol Flynn-cum-Keith Richards, or J.M Barrie? First, you have to be a sort of master-actor!). Having said all that, he's not especially good in this film. I think he was distracted by the worries of directing. Orson Welles' performances suffered for the same reasons in his Othello, Stranger and Lady from Shanghai. Its a tricky thing, directing yourself, and even a great director like Welles needed the perfect environment to be able to do it (such as Kane, Falstaff). With due respect to Johnny, and i think he knows it because he hasn't directed again, this should be his only directorial effort, like One Eyed Jacks for Brando.

You need to be brave to watch this.

[mbaprilia · 9/10 · 1 December 2015]

When this came on Tasmanian television, (oh yes) I did have some misgivings about staying up late to watch it. Then the "directed by Johnny Depp" came on and I thought....boy if Brando wasn't in this I am off to bed. But I sat up, watched it, and it one of those films that stays with you. The horror and the torture come later, and it is awful to think of this brave young man subjecting himself to these monsters, but that is the lure of the story I guess. Perfect casting by Depp, cant argue with the direction or the story. It's bleak but somehow beautiful at the same time. Yes it shows the best and worst of humanity. Not something to watch with the family on a movie night, but it does deserve an audience...you will not enjoy it but you will remember it.

Still waiting for something to happen

[margineanvladdaniel · 7/10 · 12 July 2022]

But unfortunately it didn't. I thought that the main thing that was supposed to happen at the beginning, actually ended it. A pity. Wasted time and talent, honestly. Dry, impatient. It only kept you for that curiosity, what it going to happen, but then came the "Tarantino" scene and you can anticipate that it's going only in one direction. It was nice seeing Johnny, Marlon, of course, again, but that's about it. Peace & Love!

heavy-handed morality play

[Jonny_Numb · 5/10 · 20 September 2003]

What a great concept...and what a mediocre movie showcasing it. Johnny Depp plays a man who agrees to be tortured and murdered for a $50,000 settlement to his family. I suppose I should've been aware of it sooner, but about halfway through I knew the movie would show little, if any, of the actual torture/murder (and I was right). Unfortunately, "The Brave" suffers from an overlong running time and a plodding pace, as well as unnecessary bursts of comic relief from a caricatured supporting cast. Other characterizations are erratic and underdeveloped. The best scenes belong to Marlon Brando (as the wheelchair-bound man who "hires" Depp) and Clearance Williams III (who shares a very powerful confessional scene with Depp), both of whom are given precious little screen time. "The Brave" is a sometimes-compelling morality play with a brooding mood, yet unbalanced and seldom rising above average.

5/10

A movie worth watching!

[makent01 · 10/10 · 27 October 2003]

I expected this movie to be a real "stinker" based on comments I had seen. But I was pleasantly surprised to see how good a movie it is. It is a powerful story about desperate people and should have received more attention and respect than it did. The movie could use some work in places, but it deserves to be released.

I Loved it!

[rehamseliman · 6/10 · 2 November 2020]

It is frightening what would people do to earn money, it is sad though obligatory to see a man feeling like one, a husband, and a father fulfilling his duties only when he is able to provide for his family. Also what a father would sacrifice for to give a chance for his family of a better life?! And Johnny Depp, what can I say, one of the GOAT actors.

This movie is depressing and unpleasant. You've got be very brave to watch this movie beginning to end.

[ironhorse_iv · 5/10 · 8 July 2013]

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.