Brave the Dark: A Review

BRAVE THE DARK

It seems a bit strange to think that Brave the Dark is based on a true story. I say this because the plot of Brave the Dark seems almost standard in "inspirational films". Brave the Dark though transcends any suggestions like an afterschool special with sincere performances and flawed characters.  

Troubled high school student and track athlete Nathan (Nate) Williams (Nicholas Hamilton) causes trouble for his small Lancaster County, Pennsylvania community in 1986. He breaks into businesses with his ne'er-do-well friends. He also has been living in his car for months. No one is aware of Nate's plight. 

One of those unaware is high school drama teacher Stan Deen (Jared Harris). Mr. Deen is well-liked, even beloved, by everyone he knows. He is still coming to grips with the recent death of his mother, his only relative. Mr. Deen is shocked when Nate is arrested during school. He is more shocked when both his fellow teachers and Nate's longsuffering grandparents do not come to bail him out. 

Eventually, Mr. Deen takes more and more responsibility for Nate. Nate's grandparents themselves have never come to terms with the death of their daughter and Nate's mother Gloria (Meredith Sullivan). They surrender guardianship to Mr. Deen. He takes Nate into his home and does his best to show Nate genuine warmth and kindness. Nate, for his part, struggles to accept Mr. Deen's kindness. He also struggles to maintain his anger when his girlfriend Tina (Sasha Bhasin) dumps him.

Mr. Deen sees something good in Nate, who can be fun, friendly and even a bit humorous when he isn't being watched. However, the darkness of Nate's past, which comes in pieces, still has a great hold over Nathan. Nate must navigate his shocking childhood and his survivor's guilt to pull himself out from his past. Stan Deen, in turn, needs to learn to push and pull back when dealing with Nate. He might be using Nate as a substitute for his mother and his own unspoken grief. As Nathan comes to terms with the truth about his mother and father, sometimes in shocking ways, he eventually emerges out of the dark thanks to Mr. Deen.

Brave the Dark may be based on a true story. However, I think some might see the "troubled but good young man saved by kind adult" narrative a bit too cliched. IF so, I think they would be unfair in dismissing a film that is sincere. Brave the Dark does not idealize either Stan Deen or Nathan Deen (he took on his patron's name in tribute). Instead, we see Nathan as sometimes violent towards Tina and Carl (Sung Yoon), her new boyfriend. Over and over, Nate pushes one to throw his hands up in despair.

At one point in Brave the Dark, Mr. Deen does exactly that. After a raucous party that Nate throws when Mr. Deen is off with his students at a competition, Stan is shocked, appalled, angered and disappointed at what he comes home to. He has reached the end of his patience. In perhaps another film, we might have seen one or both openly admit to mistakes. However, Mr. Deen is shown as enraged that his orderly home has been wrecked. 

We also see in this section two important elements. We do see Nathan highly upset at how Mr. Deen's home is being abused by his so-called friends, down to having a water leak in the basement. We also, more importantly, see the truth of Nate's horrifying early years. Throughout Brave the Dark, director Damian Harris (Jared Harris' brother) has given bits and pieces of how Nate lost his mother. The full impact of Nate's guilt and trauma is well-handled.

This carries over into the two lead performances. Brave the Dark is a strong calling card for Nicholas Hamilton. He skews the temptation to play Nate as wholly sympathetic. Instead, Hamilton gives Nathan a deeper complexity, a young man who has a deep struggle. When he finally reveals the truth about his mother's death, Hamilton and director Harris do not make it a big, dramatic moment. Instead, the scene is played in a soft, almost matter-of-fact manner. This, I think gives it a greater impact. One is more moved when we hear what we already know. The audience, I think, is more moved precisely because Hamilton underplays the drama. There is an understated manner in much of Hamilton's performance. When Nathan tells Stan that he joined the track team just so that he had a place to shower, many actors might have made that a big moment. Nicholas Hamilton does not. Instead, he delivers this information very directly. 

Brave the Dark does give Nicholas Hamilton a chance to also show Nate's youthful, even goofy side. While working alone creating sets for the school's production of Flowers for Algernon, Nathan begins an impromptu dance to A Flock of Seagull's Space Age Love Song. Here, we get to see that Nathan is more than just "troubled young man". We see that he is also a teen, who dances to music that he likes and has a desire for joy within him. This is a strong performance from Hamilton, and I hope that he gets more chances to show his range.

Brave the Dark also gives Jared Harris a chance to play a sympathetic character. His Stan Deen is genuinely caring. More than that, Harris makes Deen into a generally cheerful fellow, who is friends and friendly with just about everyone he meets. At one point, a slightly irritated Nate asks Deen if he knows everyone. As if on cue, Deen points to a random person and says, "I don't know her", and then does this a couple more times until he does find someone that he does know. 

Harris does a standout job as Stan Deen. He gets to show little moments of vulnerability when his friend and fellow teacher Deborah (Kimberly Fairbanks) chides him for still having his late mother's wheelchair. Fairbanks also has a great moment when she comes to Deen's house to help him clean up the mess from the unauthorized party. As she looks around, she starts chuckling, then laughing. The sight of the highly organized Deen within the aftereffects of teenage hijinks causes her to find the situation amusing.

Brave the Dark is something of a Harris family project. Jared Harris is one of the two leads. His brother Damian is the director and contributor to the screenplay. Their other brother Jaime is Nathan's gruff parole officer. 

There might be a temptation to see Brave the Dark as an inspirational or even faith-based film. There is one shot of a crucifix prominently shown as Nathan is driven by his grandparents to their home. Apart from that, however, Brave the Dark makes no calls to God or having any metaphorical or literal "come to Jesus" moment. The closest is when Mr. Deen is seen making something of a prayer for Nathan in a climactic moment. This, however, is not a specific call for any specific deity. It could be seen as a general plea. We even have some swearing within the film.

Brave the Dark has a realism that befits its true-life origin. There are moments of warmth and humor within it. When Deen asks why Nathan is at school, he replies, "Girls and sports". "Wrong answer", Mr. Deen replies. Later on, Nathan is surprised that he was given a surprisingly light sentence: 72 hours in jail. Amazed at how lenient the judge was, an astonished Nathan cannot believe Deen tells him that he did great. "I didn't do anything. I just stood there and kept my mouth shut", Nathan tells his teacher. Patting him on the shoulder, Deen merely replies with a smile, "Exactly". 

Brave the Dark is worth watching for a variety of reasons. It has solid performances from Jared Harris and Nicholas Hamilton. Its story is interesting and handled well. I think audiences will embrace and be inspired by this true story to do what Stan Deen did: love all people, even the seemingly unlovable ones. One act of kindness can truly do wonders for an individual and for the world.

DECISION: B+