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Brave New Jersey

Play trailer 1:44 Poster for Brave New Jersey Released Aug 4, 2017 1h 31m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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56% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 33% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In a small New Jersey town on the night of Orson Welles' 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, citizens face what they think is their last night on Earth. Mayor Clark will take a chance on love. Neglected housewife Lorraine will break free from her husband. Demure schoolteacher Peg will become a warrior. The reverend will rediscover his faith. The scared sheriff will find his courage. And the reclusive war veteran will become a hero, as he convinces the town to fight the aliens.
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Brave New Jersey

Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
Joe Leydon Variety [An] uneven but ultimately winning comedy ... Aug 5, 2017 Full Review Monica Castillo New York Times The film's narrative simplicity can be charming or frustrating, depending on your feelings about awkward dialogue and overreacting actors. Aug 3, 2017 Full Review Frank Scheck Hollywood Reporter The film wastes several talented performers with its low-key, rambling humor and one-dimensional characters. Aug 3, 2017 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins The period piece sets, costumes, vehicles, props, and other practical visuals are excellently handled. Rated: 6/10 Dec 5, 2020 Full Review Stephen Saito Moveable Fest In a place where it doesn't seem like there isn't much to be excited about at first, Lambert proves otherwise by showing how the secrets we keep can make us just as unknown to one another as the aliens from above. Nov 1, 2018 Full Review Sean Mulvihill FanboyNation.com Brave New Jersey is consistently close to maximizing its premise but never coming through. Rated: 2/5 Oct 31, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (6) audience reviews
Audience Member I only seen this movie once, and I think that I would watch it again idk. I think that I would reccomend it to others to watch. I didn't know what I thought of it at first, kinda slow, boring and lots of small talk throughout. It was kinda funny, but not really this movie just goes to show how people can spread rumors, and believe stuff that they hear. It is hard to believe that people fell for this story, and reacted to the story on the radio being told. I went with 2 stars for this movie, not the best movie I have ever seen and not the worst movie that I have ever seen. I can't believe that this was a true story 2 stars. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member There goes 90 minutes of my life Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Niet al te sterk satire op het klassieke Orson Welles schandaal, maar als een luchtige komedie met niet al te snuggere personages, komt het beter uit de verf dan je zou denken. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Lambert aims for gentle, Lake Wobegon-ish nostalgia, but the jokes don't land often enough, the undifferentiated small town confers little sense of location, and its eccentrics aren't quite eccentric enough. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Delightful cast, fun story, one of the most enjoyable films i have seen in awhile! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Proper Perspective: A movie made in 2017 about events in 1938 that is not sure if the dialog should be from 1938, 2017, or somewhere in-between. This is the Kevin Costner's accent in Robin Hood of movie dialog. Let's talk about Brave New Jersey... Official Synopsis: A comedy about a small New Jersey town on the night of Orson Welles' legendary 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, which led millions of listeners to believe the U.S. was being invaded by Martians. Plot: The small town of Lullaby, New Jersey reacts in a very serious way to the very fictitious event of Orson Wells enacting The War of the Worlds over the radio expecting an alien invasion and attack on their small, rather defenseless town. Take: This movie won the Best Feature Award at the 2017 Phoenix Film Festival, probably because it had the most famous people involved in the production. I'm glad I saw the movie, but it was a flawed movie without much to remember. The embellished true story here is very interesting and worth exploring. People reacted in very human ways to what would amount to an apocalyptic event. I did enjoy that element. Where this movie faltered the most was in the script and the dialog. There were large pockets of this movie where the lines went from 1938 speak to modern day language and that took me right out of the movie. It is hard to not be lifted out of the movie when the dialog does not know what movie it is in. The characters were all caricatures of the real life people that experienced these events; with a bumbling priest (Dan Bakkedahl), a lost for battle former military man (Raymond J. Barry), a teacher trying to find what she wants in love, and of course a love triangle with the town's mayor (Tony Hale), the much to do business man (Sam Jaeger), and his wife (Heather Burns). These slice of life movies and stories are necessary. There is humor in here and to some the lack of consistency in the dialog might not be noticed by others, it might be more enjoyable for others. Recommendation: Maybe check this one out on VOD to support smaller films and the folks that work very hard on Indie projects, but this is not a movie I'd recommend to spend theater money on or to see outside of your living room... Seeing Buster Bluth play a mayor was a very interesting experience, then he just became Buster Bluth playing a mayor. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Brave New Jersey

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Cast & Crew

Folk Hero & Funny Guy 74% 41% Folk Hero & Funny Guy Watchlist TRAILER for Folk Hero & Funny Guy Public Schooled 86% 61% Public Schooled Watchlist TRAILER for Public Schooled Austin Found 21% 78% Austin Found Watchlist TRAILER for Austin Found Egg 100% 40% Egg Watchlist TRAILER for Egg An Actor Prepares 33% 72% An Actor Prepares Watchlist TRAILER for An Actor Prepares Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis In a small New Jersey town on the night of Orson Welles' 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, citizens face what they think is their last night on Earth. Mayor Clark will take a chance on love. Neglected housewife Lorraine will break free from her husband. Demure schoolteacher Peg will become a warrior. The reverend will rediscover his faith. The scared sheriff will find his courage. And the reclusive war veteran will become a hero, as he convinces the town to fight the aliens.
Director
Jody Lambert
Producer
Jen Roskind, Taylor Williams
Screenwriter
Michael Dowling, Jody Lambert
Distributor
Gravitas Ventures
Production Co
Gravitas Ventures
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 4, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 4, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$14.1K
Runtime
1h 31m
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