The Brave One

Police detective in New York City is befriended by a female talk-radio hostess who makes acerbic/introspective comments on daily life in the Big Apple; her past as the near-fatal victim of murderous street thugs connects in his mind with the current rash of celebrated vigilante killings...but if his hunch is right, will he be able to arrest someone he has come to admire? Despite a dreamy, somewhat disconnected narrative which gives the proceedings almost a surreal feeling, this violent urban thriller is absorbing and intriguing, if familiar. Jodie Foster is very capable in the role of this intense, mourning and benumbed woman who isn't quite sure what her feelings are regarding the low-life she kills, yet the character as conceived is tough for us to reach. Speaking in a low monotone (and grieving for her slain boyfriend in much the same way), Foster doesn't shake the audience up--and she doesn't propel the film forward. She is highly sympathetic and human, yet she seems to drift through this hellish jungle with a halo and a gun. Director Neil Jordan certainly stacks the deck against her, which should be enough to get viewers rooting for this modern-day "Ms. 45", however the picture remains aloof, detached. As the detective, Terrence Howard does well with an old-hat role, and the actors playing the punks are all quite convincing. There's a plot thread involving an i-phone recording of the beating Foster and her fiancée suffer which doesn't come off (it seems dropped in), and another scene with Foster saving a young woman from a pimp that feels sketchy. Still, the movie looks classy, has skillful editing and a satisfying wrap-up, and makes fine usage of Sarah McLachlan's song "Answer". **1/2 from ****

"I think someone should just take this city and just... just flush it down the f***in' toilet", says Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), in "Taxi Driver". He wants to protect the young prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) from some pigs, and give her a better future. 31 years later, Iris is a popular radio host whose fiancé (Naveen Andrews) is killed in a random attack. She decides to avenge him, and other helpless people, with her own hands.

If not for Jodie Foster's presence, I probably wouldn't bother watching "The Brave One" (even though I admire most of Neil Jordan's films). It's easy to call this a morally sick movie, because that's what is... but it's not sicker than any other bloody action thriller out there. Watching a "fragile" woman like Foster becoming Charles Bronson in skirts is both entertaining and (questionably) gratifying. Who's never fantasized: what if I could just kill all the scum around me? Like "Falling Down" and so many other flicks, "The Brave One" appeals to our lower instincts, and - mildly - makes us imagine what would we do in Jodie's shoes, and how "simple and satisfying" it'd be just to kill them all. That'd be the easiest, quickest 'solution' to our nightmares, and on a second look, that's not as sick as we'd think... just desperate and cathartic.

Far from being a great movie or intellectually instigating as, say, "Dogville", "The Brave One" is worth seeing for Jodie's performance and for its unapologetic badassery in times of false, excessive morality. 6.5/10.

this movie was much better than i had hoped or expected it to be.it basically turns the vigilante genre on its head,and has a female character as the vigilante.like any vigilante movie,it certainly poses tough questions.it contains some terrific performances in it's two lead characters,Jodi Foster as the vigilante,and Terrance Howard as the cop on her trail.both are outstanding and very credible in their respective roles.Foster really makes you sympathetic to her character and rooting for her,even though you probably shouldn't.Howard's character is also sympathetic,because he has mixed feelings,but has to follow the law.he comes off very convincingly as someone who is conflicted.the movie is well paced and appropriately dark.even before the end of the movie,i thought it was well done,but the ending caught me totally off guard.it elevated the movie a notch.for me,The Brave One is a 9/10

I saw this film in a preview. It was the final production though. Jodie Foster is a great actress, I would give her 10 of 10 without hesitation. The story is a standard revenge-movie. But with Jodies amazing acting and a good director the standard story becomes interesting. It's like experience the whole thing through Jodies character. The bad guys gets a little bit stereotyped and shows almost no personalty other than violent temper. Well, it's easier to kill them then, I guess. The sens-moral of the film is "kill the bad guys". Yes, feels good on the white screen, but it would be the end of society if everybody did like these characters did. Jodie gets 10 and the story 5, so average is 7 which is my vote. Definitely worth watching.

A genre movie directed by an artist, Neil Jordan in this particular case. That is a formula that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. This time does, big time and I suspect it has to do with the artist behind the camera leaving the artist in front of the camera to her own devices and we all know that Jodie Foster's devices can be miraculous sometimes. The anguishing feel of solitude permeates Jodie's performance that's why I imagine Neil Jordan leaving her alone. Her decisions, I mean the character's and the actress's, seem to have been taken without consulting anyone. They are as pure as they are insane. I predict Miss Foster will be up for her third Oscar unless a miracle happens in the next three months. Well done!