This entry was posted on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Action, B, Drama, NEW ON VIDEO, Thriller/Mystery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Nicky Katt, Naveen Andrews, Mary Steenburgen
Lets get ready to rummmmmble! Arriving in the ring, first and weighing a scant two stars was Death Sentence, starring Kevin Bacon. Stepping second into the ring, is The Brave One, starring Oscar regular, Jodie Foster. Ding, ding…let the fight begin! Bang! It’s over – a first round knockout by Foster and her crew. This is an entertaining film from the Bernhard Goetz school of movie-making. Move over, Mister Bronson, there is a new vigilante in town and she is a waif-like, 5.3 New York radio host who has never shot a gun before. This is a good film, but it has its shortcomings. The whole time we are being told how good of a cop Mercer is, he is still unable to spot the killer who is, literally, right in front of his face and the evidence does get pretty thick, so we aren’t talking Sherlock Holmes-like ability being needed here. The acting is good, with Howard giving his best performance since Crash and Foster being as good as, well… Jodie Foster. The story gets a little far-fetched, but the dialog and inner-conflict is well done. Neil Jordan creates a real New York state of mind and slips in subtle, but effective flair.
Jodie Foster is radio host, Erica Bain, who’s in love with a charming doctor played by Naveen Andrews. This intro section is appropriately and wretchingly overdone, in accordance with the emotionally-manipulative nature of the film. Plug your nose and get through it, because you know what’s coming. The two of them are attacked in the park and soon Erica’s life has been destroyed by violence. She struggles to come to grips with her grief, and her fear, and soon arrives at a 9mm solution, sparingly applied to the worms of the Big Apple. Along the way, she meets police officer, Detective Mercer, played by Howard, who is investigating a suspected vigilante under the media’s glare. The two start to form a friendship and, well, you can probably guess the rest. Its not really very original. I didn’t buy the ending, but there is no surprise there.
Not a bad end product here. This is a pretty good psychological action movie, that is a bit of a cross between Death Wish and Taxi Driver. Foster fans will enjoy seeing her with a leading role again and those who like to feel some righteous indignation while watching a movie will get a generous helping here.
Move Quotes – The Brave One
“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.”
