À vif

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!

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.

I would agree with those who say that Jodi Foster is the redeeming factor in this film. I remember how much fun it was to pull for Charles Bronson in those Death Wish things (the early one's; not the silly sequels). How can one not empathize with her character. The thing is that it's easy for Hollywood to appeal to our baser instincts. This does and it wouldn't sustain long term interest if it was just anyone portraying the central figure. Of course, there are factors to face, like "if you set foot on the street, is there routinely someone out there that is just waiting for you"? But the cheap thrills are more than compensated for by Foster's masterful acting style and her incredible demeanor. While it stretches the bounds of credibility, once I set that aside, I was able to enjoy the ride. It's certainly cathartic if nothing else.

"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.

Erica Bain is a talk-radio host in New York, specialising in spots that are close to poetry on various subjects. She has everything going for her in her career and also in her personal life as she prepares for her marriage to Dr David Kirmani. They are walking their dog in the park as they often do when their dog goes missing. They find it shortly after but a group of young men have found it already. They demand money for the dog back but it doesn't end there as they get more violent and begin beating the couple while another of the group films it. It is some time before Erica comes to in hospital – badly beaten and reeling from the news of David's death. Scared of the places she once loved, Erica gets an unregistered gun for protection but soon finds herself in situations where others would seek to hurt her. She reacts with the gun, killing three criminals in two incidents. While shocked by her behaviour, she is also remarkably calm.

The Brave One was a "big" film in regards posters and cinema coverage in the UK but yet none of the marketing really told me much about it and seemed to concentrate on the big names involved rather than content. I'm sure there were trailers that did it well that I didn't see but to me the impression was of a film that didn't seem sure how to sell itself to the audience. It LOOKED liked it was just a modern version of Death Wish but the presence of Foster made me hope that it would be more – not to mention the polished looks, big budget and Hollywood-feel. The film doesn't start in a way that would suggest that though as we are introduced to the "perfect" man in Foster's life, knowing that his sole function in the film is that he will die – which he does at the hands of "Bad Men™". After this we do get some tentative steps as Bain struggles with her fear and anger but, once she has her outlet the film doesn't look back.

The plot is straightforward all the way. The delivery suggests that it wants to come over as complex and deep but it is never anything of the sort and instead it is a surprisingly simplistic affair that is no better than Winner's original film. The motives of the characters are drawn in big blocks with no detail or finesse and, as a result, I was left uninterested and unconvinced by the characters – never really believing them. It plods along with its black/white politics to a conclusion that is a morally-murky cop-out that was only memorable for how "have my cake and eat it" it all was. I shouldn't have been that surprised though as this was in keeping with the whole film.

Foster tries her best but there is nothing for her to work with of interest and the material doesn't offer her complexity to explore or development to exploit. Instead she focuses on "looking intense" most of the time, perhaps hoping that in itself this will suffice (it doesn't). Conversely Howard just does this weird "softly complex" thing that brings just as much depth (or as little rather) to his character as Foster does to hers. The support cast all do as required – nobody stood out for reasons of performance but rather for their fame in other things (Lost's Andrews) or family (Lenny Kravitz's daughter Zoë).

The Brave One is all dressed up in its fancy clothes to look like a modern, thoughtful take on Death Wish. It even has big, award-winning stars at its helm to show that it is anything but sordid or simplistic. Problem is – nobody passed this message to the writers and the material is as morally dubious as it is basic. Money has clearly been spent and the film LOOKS good but ultimately it goes nowhere, offers little and has morals that are hard to take and don't even trying to argue that it is a grey area of complexity, instead making it all black and white. Professional enough to fool some into thinking it is better than it is, but ultimately this is a basic and dodgy thriller that doesn't engage or thrill.