Director Neil Jordan casts the bravest Hollywood heroine who has faced Hannibal Lectar, been in a Panic Room and traced her missing daughter in Flightplan, in’The Brave One’. Jodie Foster probably plays the subject of thriller flicks better than anybody else. Her coldness in portraying the emotions of the character, her deep voice and the stern, serious look are the distinct qualities she puts into her characters. In The Brave One, Jodie Foster plays Erica Bain who is an R.J. who goes around New York city to capture sounds of the breathing city to weave her observant and relevant stories about the glorious city. On one fateful night, Erica and her boyfriend encounter some goons who savagely beat them up, leading to David’s death.
Erica survives but she is cold and silent with the fear of the city’s dark side. Days go by as Erica copes with the events that stole her love from her. She lives with the beautiful memories of the times she spent with David(Naveen Andrews from’LOST’) but she is unable to sleep with the horror of his death.’There are plenty of ways to die but you have to figure out a way to live’ is what a neighbour reminds her. Finally, she decides to venture out into the city, going straight to the Police station to inquire about the perpetrators. Seeing no avail after waiting for hours together, she realizes that the department does not give any priority to her case and thus, she decides to take a bold step into the gun shop.
License requirements and a month long wait discourage her from going the legitimate way and she opts to purchase the gun illegally from a dealer. The helpless Erica Bain is now a Vigilante - one who ignores the due process of law and enacts her own form of justice when she deems the response of the authorities to be insufficient. Grieved, shaken yet determined with a gun, Erica roams the dark streets and alleys of the city in search of injustice. The gun gives her power in her unpredictable and uncontrollable world. A bloody encounter at a convenience store turns Erica into this ruthless and unforgiving monster.
After a couple of similar encounters, she does ask herself whether shooting the wrong doers was necessary at all but it is too late then because she is now a different person.’It is astonishing to find that inside you is a stranger’ Erica resumes her job as the R.J. on her program, ’Street Walk’ and she meets the NYPD detective(Terrence Howard) who is tracing the culprit behind the several murders. The relationship between the two is a silent cat and mouse game which only plays out during the climax.
Terrence Howard’s performance does justice to his character but every actor in the film is overthrown by Jodie Foster’s explosive act. Her portrayal of a Vigilante is perhaps the best of its kind. Her turmoil bears resemblance to Bruce Wayne’s ambivalence as he turns into the Dark Knight in Gotham City but the outcome here is more of the common citizen.The Brave One is a realistic examination of what goes on in a vigilante’s mind and heart and what makes her do what she does to seek justice. In the end, is it sympathy that justifies her act or is it the inefficiency of the legal system? The film does not go deep into such issues but it goes deep into Foster’s character. The big problem is the the film slackens in its pace at regular intervals. Even though it is about 2 hours in length, it lacks in uniform pace.
Besides, the climax is a controversial one as well and’crime’ as a subject is left abandoned. The film could have been better but what makes it worth watching is Jodie Foster. In spite of its mediocre flaws, the The Brave One is a good film on the subject of a Vigilante and is important for those who have seen them only in incarnations as Sunny Deol or Batman. - 7.95 on a scale of 1-10.