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The Brave One
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Starring: Jodi Foster
Genre:
Drama/Thriller
Run Time: 119
min.
Release Date:
September 2007
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Certain parallels between
Charles Bronson’s DEATH WISH and THE BRAVE ONE have
undoubtedly already been drawn, and rightfully so. Both focus on
vigilante justice by a man (or woman) who was wronged by thugs. But
herein lay the only similarity, making The Brave One
a somewhat unique animal.
What drove Bronson’s Paul Kersey character was anger, whereas Jodi
Foster’s Erica Bain is driven by fear after a brutal attack in a New
York park that leaves her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews,
LOST TV SERIES)
dead and herself in a coma for weeks.
Erica, a well-known radio personality, has to try and get her life back
on track, but fear of everything infringes upon her every wish. Walking
down hallways make her dizzy, and going out at night is out of the
question. Upon returning to work she finds she can hardly breath and
confides much to her boss Carol (Mary Steenburgen,
THE DEAD GIRL).
Coming to terms with her fear, Erica purchases an illegal handgun and,
after finding herself near another person who’s violence dismayed her,
kills someone with her new gun. Her hand is steady. She doesn’t shake.
Her life of fear is changing into...something else.
A path of vigilante deaths get the cops involved and Detective Mercer
(Terrence Howard, HUSTLE & FLOW) is on the case. He’s also involved in
trying to solve the murder of Erica’s fiancé and the two form an unusual
relationship based on suspicion and the dichotomy of right versus
legalities. Their interplay is unique and tenuous as the two learn more
about each other and come to a mutual form of respect ...and perhaps
much more.
Those similarities I mentioned at the beginning are now sorely lost.
Mainly because Bronson’s Paul Kersey (a man and the stereotype for
vigilantism) and Foster’s Erica Bain (a woman and not a stereotype) are
in different ballparks. Kersey did it for revenge from the get-go, while
Bain’s is initially about how to deal with her fear, but later becomes a
convoluted form of animalistic revenge. The damage she’s doing to
herself are felt within the character and not from without. Her
realization that she “doesn’t tremble” when she kills someone is both
unsettling and comforting. That she gets better and better at killing is
equally so.
The biggest problem with the film, however, is that it initially sets
Terrence Howard’s Detective Mercer up as a very good and forthright cop,
but in the end he is anything but that. He crosses the line between
right and legally right with exceptional ease, which kind of ruined the
ending for me; too simplistic for such a complex man.
But nothing can be taken away from Jodi Foster (INSIDE MAN). Still
plugging along after all these years, she’s still able to carry a film’s
weight with grace, honor and sheer terror.
A worthy evening diversion for those interested in the genre.
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Image from The Brave One
DVD cost: $11.86
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
In closed Union cities
like New York, radio talent would not mix their own audio (as during the
call-in); this would be done by an audio engineer/production specialist.
Movie Quote: "I
always believed that fear belonged to other people. Weaker people. It
never touched me. And then it did. And when it touches you, you know...
that it's been there all along. Waiting beneath the surfaces of
everything you loved."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Brave One
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