Life, death, war, peace, acceptance, forgiveness, getting lost in the dance – Bravetown is a story that embraces many themes as its lost protagonist comes to terms with his past and begins to let others into his life after he is ordered to undergo counseling.
Of course, there’s there more to it than that – a small town, high school, an estranged father, a girl – but this is not Footloose and these are not the same pat series of vents.
Bravetown is in select theaters and on VOD beginning on May 8th. Check out the trailer after the jump.
Josh Harvest, a hardened New York City teen from a broken home – and quietly one of the country’s top dance club DJs and remixers – is sentenced to counseling for a minor drug infraction, along with an extended stay with his estranged father, who lives in a small town in North Dakota. He is slow to warm to his new environment, a town best-known for sending its young off to war, many of whom never return. But when Josh is asked to help out the last-place dance team as they vie for the state competition title, his rough exterior begins to soften. As his relationships emerge with both the team’s captain, Mary, and his therapist, each of whom have lost someone special to war, it forces all three to begin to face and heal their pasts.
Director Daniel Duran provides a strong mixture of rich dramatic performances and hot dance numbers in his breakout feature release. Lucas Till (“X-Men”) stars as the young DJ, Josh, alongside Kherington Payne (“Fame”, “And So You Think You Can Dance”), who, as Mary, leads a troupe of energetic fellow students through some amazing dance paces, creatively choreographed by Brian Friedman (“The X-Factor”). Josh Duhamel (“Transformers”) co-stars as Alex Weller, Josh’s laid back, but subtly probing, therapist with his own dark secrets. Laura Dern (“Wild”) gives a unique performance as Mary’s mother, Annie, who suffers from her own mental illness from the loss of her oldest son, Mary’s brother, Robert, during his military service. The film is beautifully photographed by cinematographer Angel Barroeta (“Rock of Ages”), capturing both exciting dance sequences and the peaceful beauty of the North Dakota landscape.