''Braven'' is a 2018
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
Lin Oeding
Lin Oeding (born August 9, 1977) is an American film director and stunt coordinator.
Early life
Oeding was born to a German/Dutch father and a Taiwanese mother. He then grew up in Houston, Texas and graduated in May of 2001 from the Universi ...
and written by Mike Nilon and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett. The film stars
Jason Momoa
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (; born August 1, 1979) is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series '' Baywatch: Hawaii'' (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the S ...
as Joe Braven, with
Garret Dillahunt
Garret Lee Dillahunt (born November 24, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom ''Raising Hope'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television A ...
,
Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...
,
Jill Wagner
Jill Suzanne Wagner (born ) is an American actress and television personality. She was the on-field host for the ABC game show '' Wipeout'' from 2008 to 2014. Since then, Wagner has starred in several made-for-television films for the Hallmark ...
, and
Brendan Fletcher
Brendan Fletcher (born December 15, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He first gained recognition as a child actor, winning a Leo Award and being nominated for a Gemini Award his acting debut in the made-for-television film ''Little Criminals''. He ...
.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in December 2015 in
Newfoundland, Canada. The film was released on February 2, 2018.
Plot
Logging company owner and family man Joe Braven lives with his wife Stephanie and their daughter Charlotte. Braven's father Linden, who suffers from brain trauma due to a head injury, gets into a bar room brawl after mistaking a woman for his wife, requiring Joe to come to his aid and resulting in Linden going to the hospital. At Stephanie's suggestion Joe and Linden decide to spend some time together at the family's secluded mountain cabin, unaware that Charlotte was hiding in the back of the vehicle so she could tag along.
While transporting logs by truck, Joe's co-worker Weston is asked by Hallett, who is a drug trafficker, to recruit other drivers into Hallett's criminal activities, but Weston refuses. During the exchange, Weston loses control of his truck, causing a crash that displaces all the logs and cocaine from the vehicle. After they resolve to go to Joe's mountain cabin to store the cocaine there, Weston and Hallett are picked up by a police patrol car. Hallett relays the news of the crash to his employer, drug lord Kassen, moments before Kassen kills Randall, who presumably worked with him in the past.
After Joe, Linden and Charlotte arrive at the cabin, Joe discovers the cocaine hidden in the shed, so he hides Charlotte in a storage closet before being surrounded by Kassen's mercenaries. When Weston tries to act as a go-between, Kassen kills him. Unable to call for help because of lack of cellular signals at the cabin, Joe, armed with a bow and arrow, and Linden with a gun, kills one of the mercenaries named Luisi during the ensuing standoff.
Needing higher ground to access a
cellular network, Joe drives out of the house on a
quad bike
An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is strad ...
with the original cocaine bag, with Charlotte hidden under a blanket. Joe drops Charlotte off and instructs her to climb to the mountain, where she calls her mother, who in turn calls the sheriff. While Joe is driving, another mercenary named Gentry attacks him and nearly gets the best of him before Joe straps Gentry's foot on the quad and drives it off a cliff, killing Gentry and almost killing Joe. Kassen finds the bag, but it is empty. Discovering where Joe sent Charlotte, Kassen sends one of the mercenaries, Ridley, to find her. Hallett enters the cabin and is stabbed twice with a skewer by Linden, killing him.
Just before Ridley catches up to Charlotte, a bow-wielding Stephanie arrives and shoots Ridley with an arrow. A hand-to-hand fight ensues, during which she stabs Ridley before fleeing, unable to finish him off. Meanwhile, Joe returns to the cabin, where he dispatches another mercenary named Clay and kills Essington soon after. Charlotte is picked up by the sheriff as Ridley continues to pursue Stephanie. Kassen takes Linden hostage and, after Joe pleads for his father's life, Kassen fatally stabs Linden. Kassen shoots the sheriff and escapes from the cabin, though never manages to kill him, though he does manage to retrieve the lost cocaine. Joe chases after him and runs into Stephanie and helps her kill Ridley, and after a violent knife fight Joe pushes Kassen off a cliff, killing him, before being reunited with Stephanie and Charlotte.
Cast
Production
September 3, 2015, it was announced that
Jason Momoa
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (; born August 1, 1979) is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series '' Baywatch: Hawaii'' (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the S ...
would star in the action thriller film ''Braven'' to be directed by Lin Oeding, based on the story by Mike Nilon and scripted by Thomas Pa'a Sibbett. Momoa would produce the film along with his partner Brian Mendoza through their Pride of Gypsies banner, along with Nilon and Molly Hassell. On December 14, 2015,
Garret Dillahunt
Garret Lee Dillahunt (born November 24, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom ''Raising Hope'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television A ...
joined the film to play the villainous role.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
on the film began early-December 2015 in
Newfoundland, Canada.
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 5001754
2018 films
English-language Canadian films
Canadian action thriller films
American action thriller films
2018 action thriller films
Films shot in Newfoundland and Labrador
2018 directorial debut films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
2010s Canadian films