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The Brave One

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The Brave One (2007)

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Reviews Counted:178

Fresh:77

Rotten:101

Average Rating:5.6/10

Consensus: Magnetic by between Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard can't quite compensate for The Brave One's problematic and unconvincing eye-for-an-eye moral.

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Justice, Thriller, New York City, Revenge, Theatrical Release

US Box Office: $36,765,734

Synopsis: For Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), the streets of New York are both her home and her livelihood. She shares the sounds and the stories of her beloved city with her radio audience as the host of the... For Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), the streets of New York are both her home and her livelihood. She shares the sounds and the stories of her beloved city with her radio audience as the host of the show "Street Walk." At night, she goes home to the love of her life, her fiance David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews). But everything Erica knows and loves is ripped from her on one terrible night when she and David are ambushed in a random, vicious attack that leaves David dead and Erica close to it. Though Erica's broken body heals, deeper wounds remain--the devastation of losing David and, even more overwhelming, a suffocating fear that haunts her every step. The city streets she had once loved to roam, even places that had been warm and familiar, now feel strange and threatening. When the fear finally becomes too much to bear, Erica makes a fateful decision to arm herself against it. The gun in her hand becomes a tangible way to protect herself from an intangible enemy...or so she thinks. The first time she shoots someone, it is kill or be killed. The second time is also in self-defense...or did she make a choice not to take herself out of harm's way? The fear that had once paralyzed her has been replaced by something else...something that drives her to reclaim the life that was taken from her that night...something that Erica does not even recognize in herself. Stories of an anonymous vigilante grip the city, and NYPD detective Sean Mercer (Terrence Howard) becomes increasingly determined to track down the killer. As he pieces together the clues, the evidence begins to point not to a guy with a gun...but a woman with a grudge. With Mercer closing in and her own conscience trying her, Erica must decide whether her quest for some form of justice, and even vengeance, is truly the right path, or if she has become the very thing she is hunting. Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster ("The Silence of the Lambs," "The Accused") and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard ("Hustle & Flow," "Crash") star in "The Brave One." The film is directed by Academy Award winner Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game") and produced by Joel Silver ("The Matrix" trilogy, "V For Vendetta") and Susan Downey ("Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"). The main cast also includes Naveen Andrews (TV's "Lost," "The English Patient") as David, Erica's fiance; Nicky Katt ("Grindhouse") as Mercer's partner, Detective Vitale; and Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen ("Melvin and Howard") as Carol, Erica's boss at the radio station. Jordan directed "The Brave One" from a screenplay by Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor and Cynthia Mort, story by Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor. Herbert W. Gains, Jodie Foster, Dana Goldberg and Bruce Berman served as executive producers. The behind-the-scenes creative team included Oscar-winning director of photography Philippe Rousselot ("A River Runs Through It"), marking his fourth collaboration with Jordan, production designer Kristi Zea ("The Departed"), Jordan's longtime editor Tony Lawson ("Michael Collins," "The End of the Affair"), costume designer Catherine Thomas ("Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2") and Oscar-nominated composer Dario Marianelli ("Pride & Prejudice"). "The Brave One" is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, of a Silver Pictures Production. "The Brave One" has been rated R by the MPAA for strong violence, language and some sexuality. --© Warner Bros [More]

Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Nicky Katt

Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Nicky Katt, Mary Steenburgen

Director: Neil Jordan

Director: Neil Jordan
Screenwriter: Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor, Cynthia Mort
Story: Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor
Producer: Joel Silver, Susan Downey
Composer: Dario Marianelli
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for The Brave One

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Powerful themes, intense emotions and a faultless performance from Jodie Foster are central to Neil Jordan's film, yet I have a fundamental problem with the story's morals, condoning violence, revenge and the protagonist taking the law into her own hands

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/05/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
10/19/07
Sydney Morning Herald
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Foster’s moments of quality drive home how shaky and inconsistent this vigilante drama is. Want something to avenge? How about the way it fails to live up to the sum of its reputable talents. Now that’s criminal…

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
09/28/07
Total Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As you’d expect, the talented Foster and Howard clearly relish sinking their teeth into a pair of well-rounded parts, their relationship teetering between cop and suspect, and the possibility of a romance.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
09/28/07
Daily Mirror [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As with all revenge movies, it simply provides its thrills by bumping off the bad guys.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/28/07
Sun Online
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Be care of the bait and switch. The film flip-flops from start to finish between a heart film with a vigilante and a vigilante film with a heart.

Full Review Source: HollywoodChicago.com | comment Comment
09/20/07
Adam Fendelman
Adam Fendelman
HollywoodChicago.com

The Brave One has opened the fall movie season with a bang, indeed with a lot of bang, bang, bangs. Don’t miss it.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
09/12/07
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

Jodie Foster and director Neil Jordan shift the genre to the murky left, where right and wrong are not so black and white.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/14/07
Andy Spletzer
Andy Spletzer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The performers, however, almost make us forget the problems with the script. Foster and Howard are a riveting pair.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
09/07/07
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

With a title that suggests the start of an epic poem or perhaps a fairy tale, The Brave One is a startling achievement for stars Jodie Foster and Terrance Howard, and yet another notch in the growing artistic oeuvre of Neil Jordan.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
09/14/07
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
PopMatters

Kill 'em Jodie.

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment Comment
09/23/07
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

The Brave One feels like a superhero movie, charting the familiar story of an unsuspecting everywoman who discovers one day that a gun gives her special powers to right wrongs and uphold justice.

Full Review Source: Colorado Springs Gazette | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette

Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard deliver unforgettable performances that elevate this movie to more than a revenge film.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
09/23/07
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

As its blandly heroic title forecasts, "The Brave One" is a revenge fantasy that floats like a narrative helium balloon waiting to find its ceiling.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
09/07/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

In that moment, the movie changes too, from a subjective contemplation of her grief and loss to an erratic vigilante pic.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
09/15/07
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Remind me not to piss Jodie Foster off!

Full Review Source: Beaumont Journal | comment Comment
09/13/07
Danny Minton
Danny Minton
Beaumont Journal

...one of the most compelling and flat-out exciting revenge thrillers to come along in quite some time.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
09/18/07
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

It is tough and challenging and twists and turns in ways that are not expected or obvious or easy.

Full Review Source: Hot Button | comment Comment
09/30/07
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

What you can't deny is Foster's expertise at mixing vulnerability with an inner rage that half excuses what she is doing.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
09/29/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

My one complaint about this otherwise excellent film involves the ending, which doesn't ring true to me.

Full Review Source: ReviewExpress.com | comment Comment
09/13/07
Diana Saenger
Diana Saenger
ReviewExpress.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Latest News for The Brave One

February 04, 2008: RT on DVD: The Brave One, Assassination of Jesse James Fire Onto DVD
It's a week of bravura performances among new releases, so pick your favorite headliner and go: Jodie Foster going vigilante (The Brave One), Casey Affleck turning traitor (The... More...

December 13, 2007: Atonement Leads Golden Globe Nominations
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October 10, 2007: Warner Bros. Responds to "No More Female Films" Rumors
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September 30, 2007: Box Office Guru Wrapup:Game Plan Rushes Past Kingdom For #1 Spot
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