I must say the best thing about the movie is that it's interested in the soldiers, not the self-serving popinjays who seem to think the war is a big fat career-enhancing photo opportunity. The people who got shot at deserve most of the attention.

This is a solid and timely piece of work from Hollywood veteran Irwin Winkler.

While Mark Friedman's script is as unsubtle as Winkler's direction, their sincerity and the subject's sharp immediacy lend the film a certain power.

Home of the Brave isn't exactly a subtle or a delicate picture -- it's an old-fashioned Hollywood movie, at least in tone, that's being released like an indie -- but it has some terrific acting and comes straight from the heart.

Just because there's nothing new to see here doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing worth seeing.

Mr. Winkler and Mr. Friedman deserve credit for achieving their objectives without undue bombast or bravado, but rather with a clear-eyed view of an uneasy time in our national life.