Il buio nell'anima

"The Brave One," is a revenge film that is different then most revenge films. What director Neil Jordan does to separate this film from others is that he immerses the audience through the psychology and consequences when one decides to take the law into their own hands, rather then focusing on the killing spree and violence of other similar pictures.

In "The Brave One," Foster plays a radio talk show host, Erica in New York City and is caught up in the illusion of a safe, happy life. She's engaged to a handsome doctor, and carries a distinguished radio show, but all this crumbles into pieces after a fateful run in with punks in a park assault Erica and her fiancée, leaving Foster battered and bloody and her fiancée dead.

After Erica is in a coma for three weeks, the scars from the experience paralyze her emotions. Foster's raw emotion comes through in her acting with great strength, as we see this tidal wave of tragedy ruin her entire life. The city that she once loved now is seen as a dark, hostile, soulless environment as she sees the repressive pry on the weak and the law seems powerless to stop it. After failing at reaching detectives to help find her husbands killer, and her own fear for her safety, she decides to pick up a gun to protect herself.

Erica's own morality is changed forever, after she witnesses a man gunning down his wife at a connivance store. She begins to wallow and cry in fear, but her pain of her past causes her to act in anger as she guns the man down. The experience causes Erica to feel dignified and unafraid. She does not want to be an innocent, vulnerable bystander to the repressive anymore, and does not want to shy away from the repressive when they come across her.

The process of her road down to becoming an avenging angel is a slow digression, and witnessing her developing resistance towards injustice is very moving to watch. Most thrillers such as this one have plots that seem strained, but "The Brave One's" storyline gives much time for the viewer to understand Erica's emotions and the motives she chooses to signify them.

When Erica meets the detective investigating her case, she becomes fascinated with him, as she realizes that he is trying to put away a ruthless criminal who has escaped the law. To cover for her crimes, she displays interest in him through her work as a DJ and interviews the detective, played by Terrance Howard. This makes for another interesting storyline in the film. She asks him, "is there anything you can do to bring this man to justice?" His reply is, "yes, but it wouldn't be legal," Erica now decides to take the stance as a vigilante, as she decides to bring this ruthless criminal to justice herself.

Erica now becomes ensnared in the endless battle between law and justice through trying to realize where they actually diverge. Foster carries vulnerability in the film but also strength and diligence. Emotional resonance from characters that are real and relatable are hardly seen in film, giving most films a dry and unauthentic look. But Foster engrosses us in Erica's soul. Few actresses can pull off a role like Erica in film today, but Foster stands alone as one of the best character actors's working today.

The film poses controversial questions to the soul rightness of conducting vengeance on those who impart their control and power on others. How can justice prevail when the good do nothing? This question, as well as many more, is raised and the audience is left to discover their own answers on morality.

So what would it take to turn a happy 30-something New Yorker, in love with her city and her fiancée, into a cold blooded murderer? How about being attacked and brutally beaten in Central Park by a gang of thugs, then waking up in hospital only to find out that the love of your life has been buried while you were in a three week long coma.

The Brave One takes you on a journey of what it means to loose everything, to become a shadow of yourself, propelled by a very strong performance by Jodi Foster as Erica Bain. We watch as she finds herself crippled by fear, unable to step over the threshold between her home and the city she once felt safe in, now turned against her. When she does find the strength to leave, she's caught up in a convenience store shooting and surprises herself by killing the attacker. And so begins her mission to take the law into her own hands, killing those who abuse, taunt and betray, yet always remaining the victim of violence On the way, she catches the attention of NYPD Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), the lead investigator in what becomes known as the "vigilante killings". They form a close bond, though the basis of it is not always clear. It's a pity that so much of the film's focus is on the murders, preventing the audience from exploring Erica's character deeper. You wonder why she has no friends and what her logic is for not seeking help when she is clearly loosing her mind. However, what the narrative may lack depth and dimension is balanced out by the cinematography, most notably the artful juxtaposition of tender love making and gory violence to signify her pain. And while the ending may feel like somewhat of an anti-climax after spending the past two hours jumping out of your seat, it never the less brings the journey satisfyingly full-circle.

The Fan Carpet - www.thefancarpet.com

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

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.