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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 The fear that had once paralyzed her has been replaced by something else...something that drives her to reclaim the life that was taken from her that night...something that Erica does not even recognize in herself.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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81 - 100 (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
 
 

It's entertaining but it's certainly not the essay on violence it purports to be... At least it's not boring. Whenever you see a scumbag, at least you know she's going to shot him in the face.

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
09/14/07
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

Is there really a difference between

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
09/14/07
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

Following her first vigilante act, the movie starts hemorhagging IQ points and the faux hand wringing escalates. This movie never stops lying to itself

Full Review Source: Film Experience | comment Comment
09/14/07
Nathaniel Rogers
Nathaniel Rogers
Film Experience

The only thing that could have made this movie better is if it were revealed at the end that our leading lady was really a man. But we've been down that path before.

Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | comment Comment
09/14/07
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
Film School Rejects

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

Foster does her best with a flawed story whose ending rings even less true than the rest of it.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
09/14/07
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Regardless of the artistry involved, The Brave One ultimately never really strays from the same moral low road as Death Wish.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/14/07
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Uncertainty helps keep The Brave One on its toes.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
09/14/07
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

A violent action movie with a heart and soul. Watching it is difficult; forgetting it is more so.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
09/14/07
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

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

You long for all this combined talent to be in the service of something more deserving than a retread of a story that has lost the edge it had 33 years ago.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
09/14/07
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle

The Brave One celebrates its avenging angel as it pretends to examine her.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
09/14/07
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee

One guesses this slick, decidedly mainstream project is little more than a paycheck [for director Jordan]. Unfortunately, it shows. The minutes pass quickly enough in watching The Brave One, but it is a waste of time.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
09/14/07
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

Why is The Brave One so much less satisfying than Death Wish?

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
09/14/07
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

A true shocker that will shatter your nerves and get you talking.

Full Review Source: Maxim | comment Comment
09/14/07
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Maxim

The moody tone and carefully balanced drama turn a grubby premise into something unexpectedly elegant.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/14/07
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

Clever, calculated, 'responsible' filmmaking.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
09/14/07
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Worth watching for Foster's fiercely arresting performance.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/14/07
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

Two terrific lead actors under the direction of the estimable Jordan aren't enough to overcome the proven axiom that although you can make a bad movie from a good script, you can't make a good one from a bad one.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/14/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News

Some form of this eye-for-an eye argument could probably be made, but The Brave One never bothers to make it. Instead, it relies on sentiment, platitudes, plot holes and fear itself.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
09/14/07
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
 
81 - 100 (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
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
The nominations for the 65th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning. Did your favorite films, stars, and songs make the cut? More...

October 10, 2007: Warner Bros. Responds to "No More Female Films" Rumors
It seems that reports of Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov's misogyny were greatly exaggerated. More...

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