The car smashes through the guardrail and plows down the slope, hitting a tree. 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.The “Me” in “ Those Who Wish Me Dead” is 12-year-old Connor Casserly (Finn Little), who’s been riding in the passenger seat of his father’s car when a pair of trained assassins pop up along the forest road and perforate the windshield with bullets. 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. Outside perhaps the impressively played sheriff it never felt like any rural Montana town i’ve known. 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. The casting, despite being riddled with excellent actors, doesn’t help either. 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 film is entertaining and worth seeing. It is very difficult for movie makers to make wildfire flames look realistic, and that is apparently one of the reasons why they had about 40 Visual Effects Artists assigned to the project. The credits included the fact that it was filmed in New Mexico, the same state where much of “Only the Brave” was made. I could almost visualize her as a smokejumper. Jolie is a very good actor and pulled it off. Definitely worth putting the phone down and watching the film.įirefighters, of course, will be able to nitpick about things like fire behavior and the use of breathing apparatus, and they might laugh at a lighthearted moment about MREs. I’d say it’s my favorite fictional wildfire film. It may not have been intentional, but the movie is more about mental health than anything else, and the need to address it. Death-defying stunts and alcoholism, coupled with the US Forest Service ignoring and isolating her during her crisis really makes this movie the most realistic, and even brought me to shed a few tears in my early morning viewing. Without treatment, she pursues dangerous, risky behavior that is all too common amongst our colleagues. She’s suffering a mental health crisis from PTSD developed on the job. What really sets this film apart from other wildland firefighter films is Hannah’s story. Jon Bernthal (Walking Dead) is excellent as a local sheriff’s deputy and Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) is perfect in his role as the not-entirely-emotionless assassin. When it really matters, people are lucky to have her around. She’s kind of crazy and wild, yet professional and dialed-in when needed. Overall, it doesn’t take too large of a leap to make the movie feel realistic, even for firefighters.Īngelina Jolie gives a great performance, and she really fits the smokejumper role. Of course, the fire behavior is a little dramatic, the goggles are comical, and maybe the HALO Smokejumping operations are a bit much, but when a smokejumper faceplants on landing, it brought it back home for me. It feels more like a big-budget thriller with A-list actors than a streaming steamer. This movie is a great addition to the wildfire canon that has been produced in Hollywood recently. Their paths cross on the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana, and as one family’s life is being ripped apart, Hannah finds a new purpose and a reason to start living again. She is floundering through life until a family who knew too much is on the run from hitmen. Those Who Wish Me Dead is a film about Hannah (Angelina Jolie), a smokejumper trying to piece her life back together after tragedy strikes on a fire the year before. After that are a few comments from Bill about the movie. We asked Smokejumper Bro who appears frequently in the Wildfire Today comments sections if he would write a review of the movie. Still image from the trailer for Those Who Wish Me Dead.Ī movie that features a smokejumper, Those Who Wish Me Dead, premiered today on HBO Max.
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