Brave the Dark

An angry teenager can seem like an immovable object. Most adults have a hard time finding the patience to be the irresistible force that reflects back unconditional support. “Brave the Dark” is based on the true story of a teacher who was that for many students over the years, especially for Nate, a boy who desperately needed a reason to believe that life had more to offer than abuse, trauma, and disappointment. It was made with love by the now-grown boy himself, with three brothers from the other side of the ocean who saw a story that needed to be shared.

The three brothers are the sons of actor Richard Harris (“Camelot” and the original Dumbledore). Damien Harris directed and co-wrote the screenplay. Jared Harris (“Chernobyl” and “Mad Men”) plays teacher Stan Deen. And Jamie Harris plays Barney, the tough probation officer assigned to Nate when he gets in trouble. While the heart of the film is the relationship between Nate and Stan, the scenes with Stan and Barney are among the highlights. The two characters have a history that left them respecting one another but they are very different. Stan is almost preposterously optimistic and Barney is as tough and cynical as you might expect a parole officer whose job is riding herd on acting-out teenagers to be. Jamie and Jared have great chemistry and really spark off each other so well we could imagine a whole other movie about them.

But this is Nate’s story. When we first see him, he’s running track at his high school. We won’t find out why until later, when we learn he has been living in a car after eight years in an orphanage starting at age 6 and failed placements with four foster families. And he has friends who invite him to go along on a break-in. For them it’s fun. For him it’s a way to get some money for food. But he is caught. He gets sent to prison.

Stan Deen cannot let Nate stay there. He is just that guy, as we see when the prison guard explains that only family is allowed to see Nate, and Stan glances at the portrait on the wall and asks to see the warden. This is not some “I need to see the manager” thing. As we will learn, Stan has made the lives of everyone in Lancaster County better, teaching them or their kids, helping them through tough times. Of course the warden is a former student. And many of the movie’s best moments are like this one, when Stan always just seems to know and be loved by everyone.

Stan is a bit of an oddball. He’s a bit awkward but he is incapable of being anything but completely authentic. That, more than anything else, is what gets Nate started on thinking of himself and his life’s possibilities differently. But in order to move forward, he has to be willing to be honest about the past, about the unthinkable tragedy he witnessed as a child. It is something his grandparents insisted he lie about, even to himself. Witnessing Stan’s natural honesty shows Nate that he can be honest, too.

Stan, who once dreamed of being an actor, is directing a school production — tellingly — of “Flowers for Algernon.” That story is the basis for the movie “Charly,” which won an Oscar for Cliff Robertson as a man with low cognitive skills who has an experimental surgery that — temporarily — gives him superior intelligence. The brief moments we see in the play parallel the movie’s themes about increased understanding as Nate’s interactions with one of the play’s leads, the girl who broke up with him after he was arrested. Viewers should know those scenes were shot in the school auditorium where the real Stan Deen staged plays with his students, and that it is now named in his honor.

Stan was feeling stuck after the death of his mother. He is able to move forward by allowing Nate to move into his home, even into what was his mother’s bedroom. There are setbacks and struggles, but that makes the conclusion and the images of the real Stan and Nate at the end especially moving.

Parents should know that this film has strong language, drinking, smoking, and drugs, and a mostly off-screen depiction of murder and suicide witnessed by a small child. The story includes abuse, abandonment, homelessness, and teen crime.

Family discussion: Why was Stan different from the other teachers? What teachers have made the biggest difference in your life? Can you be more like Stan?

If you like this, try: “Stand and Deliver” and “Coach Carter”