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Movies / Upcoming / The Brave One
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 The fear that had once paralyzed her has been replaced by something else...something that drives her to reclaim the life that was taken from her that night...something that Erica does not even recognize in herself.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 rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
10/19/07
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/15/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/15/07
Screen International
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org
N/R

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Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
10/18/08
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Entertainment Insiders
N/R

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Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Rafer Guzman
Rafer Guzman
Boston Phoenix

The Brave One, though well cast and smoothly directed, is just as crude and ugly as you want it to be.

comment 1 Comment
09/13/07
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[A] dopey action movie featuring the contributions of people too talented to waste their time on something this risible.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

It's lily-livered narrative cowardice, and I reject it.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
09/14/07
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Neil Jordan ought to be doing more challenging material than this overblown, overwrought thriller that has only obvious points to make about the moral swamp that is urban vigilantism.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/28/07
Andrew Pulver
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Alas, moral niceties are blown away in a frenzy of retribution, and a "controversial" ending undoes any plausibility.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
09/29/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Foster convinces as the petrified victim turned vengeful killer and Howard is superb as the world weary detective. Together, they just about managed to save a frequently ham-fisted script.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
09/28/07
Bill Beattie
Bill Beattie
Sky Movies

The Brave One is glossy trash masquerading as a meaningful and important drama, and that's the biggest shame of all.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
09/13/07
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

An ugly, manipulative mess.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/14/07
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

The likes of the great, loony Ms. 45 and dozens of Asian exploitation movies did [this subject] trashier. Yet, somehow, many of those felt more honest.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
09/14/07
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

In this dreary, cockamamie Valentine to New York City haters, concocted by the father/son team of Roderick and Bruce A. Taylor--a good argument for the government sterilization of a certain family's genes--radio personality Erica Bain (Foster) is confront

Full Review Source: New York Theatre Wire | comment Comment
12/18/07
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
New York Theatre Wire

Brave One isn't Death Wish, but there are moments where I could see Jordan giving in to that impulse.

Full Review Source: OhmyNews.com | comment Comment
09/13/07
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
OhmyNews.com

It can never seem to decide if it's escapist action or social commentary and, as a result, it never commits to either.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment 1 Comment
09/14/07
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
UGO
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten 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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