Almost tortuously high-tension and exciting, it switches gender with Charles Bronson's "Death Wish."
The Brave One (2007)
Tomatometer
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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, Theatrical Release, New York City, Revenge
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 The fear that had once paralyzed her has been replaced by something else...something that drives her to reclaim the life that was taken from her that night...something that Erica does not even recognize in herself.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.
Reviews for The Brave One
OK, Jodie, if you're making comparisons to "Taxi Driver": One's a masterpiece about the penchant for emotionally apocalyptic violence. The other is manipulative junk tapping into its star's success at kicking butt. Guess which of those is "The Brave One."
Every slimeball Erica encounters menaces her with remorseless, repulsive sadism—there's never anyone who just has a lewd comment, say… Everyone wants to bludgeon or shoot her, mutilate and molest her…
In the final reel, Jordan and Foster serve up violence and revenge as cynical button-pushing, which the audience eats up with a Pavlovian response.
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.
Jodie Foster's commanding performance largely compensates for a film that can't decide whether it's an updated version of 1970s vigilante actioners a la Death Wish or a more provocative chronicle of response to crime and violence in post 9/11 New York.
not unlike its heroine: conflicted and unsure of which way to go. ...(Foster) emphasizes Erica's anguish and the shock that comes from realizing that you're capable of doing things you once would have found abhorrent.
Because it wants the applause both of the chatting classes and the blood crowd, The Brave One doesn't take a firm position about vigilantism.
A seventies' revenge movie with a woefully unconvincing patina of intellectual justification, The Brave One is the sort of genre movie that gets more credit than it deserves.
Hoorah for vigilantism! Who needs the rule of law when you've got guns?
Brave One isn't Death Wish, but there are moments where I could see Jordan giving in to that impulse.
My one complaint about this otherwise excellent film involves the ending, which doesn't ring true to me.
[Jordan] presents the material with intelligence. Unfortunately, intelligence is not what this movie needs.
Forget about comparing this film to Death Wish, as many already have this isn't good enough to deserve comparison to Death Wish 4: The Crackdown.
It wants to be a moody, dark exploration of pain and revenge (the same feelings I experienced during and after the movie).
The Brave One is glossy trash masquerading as a meaningful and important drama, and that's the biggest shame of 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...
September 30, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup:Game Plan Rushes Past Kingdom For #1 Spot
In a fierce head-to-head battle, The Rock's family comedy The Game Plan upset Jamie Foxx's action thriller The Kingdom this weekend and became the first PG-rated film since June... More...
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