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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 The fear that had once paralyzed her has been replaced by something else...something that drives her to reclaim the life that was taken from her that night...something that Erica does not even recognize in herself.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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61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Unfortunately, with each bullet she discharges, credibility takes a hit.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/18/07
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC

Jordan's Brave delves into a showy yet sluggish crime drama that incorporates all the cliched parts of a fatalistic fantasy audiences have seen over and over.

Full Review Source: World Voice News | comment Comment
09/17/07
Frank Ochieng
Frank Ochieng
World Voice News

Foster and Howard are outstanding actors and they play their roles very well in this film, keeping the empowerment-by-murder plot from sinking until the end.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
09/17/07
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

should have been a quickie revenge flick, but turns out to have a lot more meat on its bones thanks to Foster’s strong performance and assured direction by Neil Jordan

Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | comment Comment
09/17/07
Sean McBride
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy

An ugly, nasty, self-deluding piece of sadistic trash.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
09/17/07
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

As polished as it may be on the surface, 'The Brave One' is never satisfying because the complexities of eloquent language or imagery are not present.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/17/07
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It's as much about the unfocused feelings of vengeful rage many Americans had after 9/11 as about a woman going on a killing spree.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/17/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Bull's-eye.

Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
09/16/07
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
Houston Community Newspapers

NYC as a dangerous metropolis where a gun-toting fem avenger indulging in a cerebral bloodsport has a close brush with death every five minutes or so.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
09/16/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

Armed with good performances--and contrivances.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
09/16/07
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Decent revenge flicks allow some viewers to continually ask "What if."

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
09/15/07
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Got the exploitation part right but couldn't get much else right.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/15/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

...sullied by sludgy screenwriting, but Jodie and Jordan almost pull it out of the mire. It's a misfire, but an interesting one.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
09/15/07
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

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

Didn't I just see this film two weeks ago with Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence? Terrance Howard is strong, though. Funny lines from Nicky Katt.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
09/15/07
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card
N/R

Click to read the article

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

Click to read the article

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

Somehow, Foster and Howard make it work.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
09/15/07
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

The Brave One moves at a brisk pace and Foster and Howard do a fine pas de deux as the plot develops.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
09/15/07
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

The Brave One might have been honest, perceptive, and troubling. Instead, it becomes aimless revenge porn.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
09/14/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Brave One

February 04, 2008: RT on DVD: The Brave One, Assassination of Jesse James Fire Onto DVD
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December 13, 2007: Atonement Leads Golden Globe Nominations
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