The Brave One Reviews

An old idea rehashed and tricked out with a ludicrous plot and some very bad messages which only made me angry.

The only beauty in this film lies in the monologues. That's where it begins and ends for me. The sadness and loss in Erica's voice is heartbreaking and Jodie Foster has a voice with a smoky sensuousness, laden with emotion and vulnerability that is unparalleled in our time; "... eight hairpins made out of bones. That Elouise." Tore me apart.

By contrast this film had so much revulsion, in its message and in its modus. When Mercer (Terrence Howard) tells Erica (Jodie Foster) that his hands didn't shake when he killed someone because he was on the "right" side of the law, thereby implying that Erica's murderous behaviour was at least forgivable, I was so angry I wanted to throw up. That message is just the ticket for any wannabe vigilante with a gun and a sense of inadequacy.

The plot dances around the realities (exponentially increasing skill with a gun, no screaming agony from the victims just clean fatal shootings, no bystanders, etc) as though they're irrelevant so it can get to the "good bits". Initially I had sympathy for her, even when she started packing (illegal) heat. The first couple of incidents were just bad luck but then she began looking for trouble now that she had Mr. 9mm to back up her righteous anger, and my sympathy ebbed away to be replaced with contempt culminating with the rooftop scene which was just utter garbage.

I was, by then, confident that it couldn't get worse. Until the ending, when Mercer gives her the chance to beat the rap. Sick and twisted rah-rah garbage that is a gift to the gun lobby.

Jodie is way above this and surely she didn't need the money. For nearly forty years I've been a strong admirer of hers. I know I always will be. But this was not one of her finer moments.

I didn't know what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Neil Jordan and Jodie Foster, I thought I should check it out. Eventally, I thought it was an interesting flick. Indeed, it takes a very old formula (the vigilante) but they gave their own flavor to the whole thing which was rather intriguing. Indeed, most of the movies in this genre focus on the violence and the actions scenes whereas here, they focused more on the characters. Jodie Foster was at some point one of the best actresses and managed to win 2 academy awards during her prestigious career and I still think she is a terrific actress but it has a been a while since she really impressed me. Anyway, she gave here a solid performance, I eventually cared about the character she had created and I believed that she would be capable of her actions in this movie. It was a three dimensional character and it made this flick stand out from the rest of its kind. Unfortunaly for Foster and Neil Jordan who both did a good job here, the story was pretty standard and predictable. It still follows the basic rules of the vigilante genre and I thought it was rather disappointing. Still, it remains a very well made flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The Brave One starts out promising and is thrilling for most of the way as Jodie Foster's character exacts revenge, due to police inaction, on the thugs who killed her fiancé. But the ending just becomes preposterous and thus makes the film a disappointment. I expected more from director Neil Jordan.

Jodie is always so believable - great role perfect for her - solid film worth a go. WOrth more than 6.5/9 !!

''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.''

A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

Jodie Foster: Erica Bain

Are these urban revenge movies becoming popular again? There was a surge of them in the early 1970s Dirty Harry, Death Wish, Taxi Driver that had a genuine purpose, albeit an entirely commercial one. The streets at that time were filled with lead.
But things have died down mostly since then. The children causing much of that trouble are now in their 50s and 60s and although urban crime still trumps rural crime, but here we go again. First Death Sentence and now The Brave One. Jody Foster and her boyfriend are walking their dog through the tunnels of Central Park at night and are set upon by three tattooed Hispanics who bash the man's head in, beat hell out of Foster, and kidnap their dog. The boyfriend is, or was English/Indian, so that the audience is less able to turn this into a strictly ethnic confrontation. Foster manages to come by an illegal gun and, in essence, goes through the same developmental stages as Charles Bronson did in Death Wish, but less schematically. It deals more with Jody Foster's character and her relationship to the detective on the case, Terrance Howard.

The film can deal with Foster's anguish and her ambivalent relationship to Howard because Foster is a much better performer than Charles Bronson was, and because Terrance Howard matches her charismatic ways. The plot is more complex than Death Wish too which also becomes its downfall, aimed at a more adult audience, or at least a more thoughtful one. If, after the first vigilante shooting or two, Charles Bronson seems happy as a clam, waltzing around in his spacious flat with the apricot carpets, playing Herb Alpert at high gain on his stereo, Jody Foster slouches around, ridden with guilt, and we the audience squirm around in unrelenting boredom.
At first she screws up at work at a radio show, concerning very poetic stories about the city and its history. But when she begins to talk about the vigilante killings and interviews Detective Howard, she begins to get some really sicko calls along the lines of "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out." She even tries to confess, but her attempts are foiled by the police bureaucracy.
Jodie Foster gives a very good performance in The Brave One. She portrays this type of violent, morally corrupted character brilliantly but it's been done countless times before.
Terrence Howard is also great in this movie. Both have excellent chemistry together, and strengthen the film to a certain level. The Brave One looks visually pristine, and conveys some brilliant camera work, but not all of it works to a great effect. The scenes where Erica is absolutely traumatized and afraid to walk out her front door to face the world. The camera swayed back and forth to the sides in an almost dream-like way, and really captured the moment with essence. Whereas almost every time Erica killed somebody, everything just had to go slo-mo and show her facial expressions in fine detail. The slo-mo was properly used when Erica committed her first murder. But why keep doing this effect almost every time she committed murder? The camera work creates a great atmosphere in most of the film, but there a few scenes here that are just plain overkill.

''I'd say it was probably the fall that killed this guy... or it could be the crowbar embedded in his skull. I'd say it's about 50-50.''

The Brave One is very much about how these murders affect Erica emotionally. Her fiancé is killed by a group of thugs, and suddenly her love of New York City is turned upside down. She realizes that there is a dark side to the beloved city, and she says so on her radio show. I don't completely understand this though. Erica acts as if she never realized that violence can occur at night in the city, and that's pretty stupid. If she lived there all her life she must be either blind or very oblivious. Erica also seems to be a glutton for inhumane, murderous people. She really doesn't even have to go look for them, they just to come to her as if they're begging to be shot dead for their wrong-doing. The Brave One deals with the morals and proper use of violence strongly at first, and then suddenly it glorifies it. The ending is very negative, and completely immoral and inhumane. It also negates the purpose of Terrence Howard's character, which the movie spends so much time trying to evenly develop, and suddenly his morals take a U-turn. The morals in The Brave One become very fractured, and just plain shatter all over the place by the end. So violence is okay? It's a good thing to commit murder as long as it's for vengeance? I pretty much refuse to believe that. You know why? Because I have a conscience, which this film surely lacks. It is not right to take the life of another person, no matter how bad they are, or how much you hate them. Erica Bain sets out to stop these evil-doers, but in the end she is no better than the horrible people she kills.

Overall this movie is as predictable as it is unbelievable and ultimately questionable in its message. Jodie Foster plays that same role, that she has played two times already: a completely normal woman who is being driven over the edge when harm is done to her and her family (see Flightplan and Panic Room). It's time she tries new things for a change. Everything about The Brave One tastes stale. The movie is annoying in its superficiality and simplicity. One of these movies that will be forgotten in ten years time.

''There is no going back, to that other person, that other place. This thing, this stranger, she is all you are now.''

"The Brave One" tells the story of a middle aged woman (Foster) who loses her boyfriend, and soon to be husband in a brutal beating. The film is about her taking revenge upon her boyfriends death, and the tough times she has to go through.

Throughout the graphic film, she kills more people than just the suspects. She basically takes her anger out on anyone who pisses her off, by blowing their brains out. She acquires a gun illegally from someone on the street.

Yes, the film is extremely entertaining. I mean, just pure violence and mayhem can be fun to watch for awhile, but too much is too much. She took it too far, and I began to get rather depressed. I am not saying that I can not handle a bit of killing in the movies I watch, But when it gets very emotional and personal with love between two people, and massive shootings, I admit, I get depressed.

The final verdict is please, do watch this film for it's great entertainment, but be prepared for your emotions to fly.

A radio host (Jodie Foster) witnesses her fiance's death and is left for dead. When she comes back to, she gradually sets out to get revenge on her fiance's killers.

It's about time a female character in a movie is shown taking revenge and justice in her hands. Sorry for all the people out there that did not enjoy the movie because they didn't think Foster's character was realistic. But if these things were to happen to you, I'm quite certain, you, like Foster's character, would take the law in your hands and chase after the bad guys. So this is a great film for that.
I also enjoyed Foster's performances, though at times some scenes stretched out.

OK this movie probably doesn't really deserve a 7, but I love Jodie Foster and she always puts her heart into every role she does. Terrence Howard is also excellent and is starting to get pretty high on my list of actors that really know how to craft a character.

This movie is really just another Death Wish told in a slightly different way. No, wait a minute, I guess if you go and kill the bad guys and you aren't 007, you are breaking the law. Jodie is beat senseless and her fiance is killed in the opening scene. She survives and decides not to be a victum any more. Boy doesn't she. She turns into a kick ass, gun toting, black leather jacket wearing, killing machine. (I don't think I'm giving too much away unless you haven't looked at the poster for the movie.)

Kevin Bacon's Death Sentence came out earlier this year and beat Jodie's film to the theaters. This movie is a lot better than Bacon's. The acting is better and the characters are ones that you can connect to easier. If you like action movies that focus on revenge and don't mind a high body count along the way, you will like this movie. No one will win an Academy Award in this one, but it is pretty fun to watch.

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