The Brave One (18)
Posted by Guest Writer on Mon, 24 Sep 2007.
Starring: Jody Foster, Naveen Andrews, Terrence Howard, Nicky KattÂ
Synopsis: Jody Foster stars as Erica Bain, a New York Radio journalist, whose life is devastated when a brutal attack leaves her fiancé (Naveen Andrews, Lost) dead. Struggling to recover and return to life in the city she once loved and now fears, Erica falls into a dark pursuit of justice. But with the public gripped by her anonymous vigilante slayings and dogged Detective Mercer (Terrance Howard, Crash) on the case, she must question her choices and the path she has taken.
The film starts a little weak and had me worrying that the pretentious monologues about how great New York City is, that Jodie Foster’s character spouts over the radio, would leave me swearing into my popcorn. Thankfully they do decrease in frequency fairly rapidly and, not surprisingly, she is less forthcoming with her prose after being savagely attacked in Central Park.
The string of events that pushes Erica into becoming a female Charles Bronson, left me thinking that a good tag line for the film would be ‘Unluckiest woman in America gets a gun’.
Overall though, the film achieves a brooding atmosphere and excellent performances from Foster and Howard make the burgeoning relationship between the two characters very compelling.
Although not an original idea, The Brave One is a good morality tale that leaves the audience deciding whose side they are on, or should be on.
You may find that you’re a little disappointed with this one to begin with, but given a chance it does improve and delivers the kind of action you’re probably expecting from a revenge flick.
Gritty, thought provoking and occasionally amusing.
A big thanks to the Odeon cinema, Leicester, for letting us review this film.
3 out of 5
By Tom Smith
