The Brave One

You cannot think about this movie without thinking about "Taxi Driver." Every other review has brought this up, and I am not even going to try to ignore that. "Taxi Driver" was really started up Jodie Foster's career where she played a prostitute named Iris who is "rescued" by Travis Bickle. Now with "The Brave One," Foster does indeed come around full circle as she rescues a homeless girl who almost gets run over by a heartless pimp. Sooner or later, Jodie was bound to inherit the role of vigilante.

Along with "Death Sentence" (which I have not yet seen), vigilante movies have been making a strong comeback. This is surprising because the themes of "Death Wish" were themes that would work well into today's cinema where the moral line is more clearly seen. Of course, if this keeps up, there just might be a remake of "Death Wish" if this one is successful enough. Hollywood has already made just about everything else, so who are we to think they will stop there? They'll probably get all cute and try to do a prequel of Paul Kersey when he was a young kid and go to his time as a vigilante. Try to "explain" him, as if you can really explain anybody...

Anyway, back to the review. "The Brave One" stars Jodie Foster as Erica Bane, a radio talk show host on an NPR station. She is about to get married to David (Naveen Andrews) who is a male nurse that she is helplessly in love with. However, one night during a walk in Central Park, the both of them are very badly beaten up and Erica ends up in a coma. When she wakes up, she finds that her fiancé is dead and buried, and her supposedly safe existence in New York is utterly destroyed.

To feel safe, she does what many Americans do and buys a gun. From then on, she ends up in situations where she is forced to use it. Erica becomes a whole other person, and she knows that she can never go back to who she was before. Even she says it at one point that she is the stranger she never knew was there before this all happened.

The movie was directed by Neil Jordan, who has directed "The Crying Game," "Interview With A Vampire," and "Breakfast On Pluto" among other movies. He gives the movie an atmosphere that just envelops you as your watching it. In many ways, this could be a routine revenge movie, and it is to a certain degree. But he gives the story and the character a humanity that is not always present in these kind of movies. The movie is not about all the creative ways that Erica kills people, but of what happens to her as a person because of it.

Jodie Foster, as always, is brilliant as a victim trying to live in the world she has been thrust into. Many will say that this is a role that she has played over and over again. While that may be true, she is never short of believable here, and I know what a big fan she is of National Public Radio. I'm glad they chose that as the profession of the character. Helps to keep the clichés away!

Also brilliant in the movie is Terrence Howard, who has been on an endless role since "Hustle & Flow." He plays a detective who constantly threatens to get too emotionally involved in his police work. He develops a friendly relationship with Foster's character, but he soon starts to suspect how deeply involved she is in what is going on around the city. What he does with his face in certain scenes says so much about what he is thinking. That's the beauty of screen acting for you.

The beauty of Foster's performance is that she succeeds in making you empathize with what her character even as she does horrible things. You completely understand her motivation in what she is doing, and it touches in that dark place that you would rather not know about. Foster may be again playing the victim, but she is only a victim for the first 30 minutes of the film. Her character becomes very sick by her own admission, but no one is about to prosecute her.

This movie also has some great dialogue here and there. One of my favorite moments comes from Terrence Howard and his partner played by Nicky Katt:

"This guy has a rap sheet longer than my dick."

"In other words, no priors."

If there is anything that almost put me off of this movie, it's the ending. I won't give it away of course, but once you see the movie, you may find yourself agreeing that it threatens to completely sell out the entire movie. Neil Jordan and everyone involved wants to have it both ways with the vigilante story, and it is never that easy. We cannot condone Foster's actions even as we understand why she does what she does.

The only other movie I can think of that managed to have it both ways with the vigilante story was "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas. It managed to let us share in Douglas' revenge against the city and the people that spurn him, but in the end, we can clearly see that what he is doing is very wrong. Had "The Brave One" been just a bit braver, maybe they could get that point across even better.

Still, I cannot deny that "The Brave One" is a well made and well acted movie that is ,ade with the upmost intelligence on the subject of vigilantes. Neil Jordan remains one of the best and perhaps most underrated directors working. Jodie Foster continues to prove that she can do no wrong. The same goes for Terence Howard who is quickly becoming one of the best actors working today.

I just hope I never have to go through what Foster's character goes through. I am always preparing for it in the back of my mind. Time to enjoy life for a change. Who are we to take away someone's happiness like that?

*** out of ****