As most vigilante movies do, The Brave One reaches into our underbellies and asks the question. How far would you go to right a horrible wrong done to you? In the case of New York radio host Erica Bain(Foster), that question comes to a head when she and her fiancé, David(Naveen Andrews), are viciously attacked by a gang of thugs, leaving David dead and Erica barely alive. She heals physically but realizes the city she once adored has now turned into a haven of fear. Unable to move past the tragedy, Erica buys a gun and begins prowling the city streets at night to track down the men she holds responsible.
Putting herself in dangerous situations, she is soon taking on the bad guys in her own way, catching the public’s attention with her anonymous exploits. Although a dogged NYPD detective (Terrence Howard) is soon hot on her trail, The Brave One mostly focuses on Erica’s angst over what she’s done and who she’s becoming. But for a purported thriller, watching an intellectual woman wrestle with demons just isn’t all that exciting. Still, watching Jodie Foster wrestle demons is at least a study in acting brilliance. She seems to have perfected the ordinary-woman-turned-badass routine, adding little nuances as she goes along.
The Brave One is lucky to have her. Same goes for Howard, as the kindly detective who vaguely suspects Erica might be his vigilante, while befriending her at the same time. Their scenes together are the film’s most compelling-but unfortunately, they are not enough of them. The Brave One starts out with a bang but then slows down to a snail’s pace the more Erica agonizes over her deeds. Even the shots go slo-mo every time Erica reaches into her oversized bag, pulls out the gun and shoots the perps dead. Pacing, Neil Jordan(director), it’s all about pacing.
In many ways’The Brave One copies Charles Bronson’s’Death Wish’, but its nowhere near as goodas the original. Good timepass on TV, but not really worth going to the theatre. Cheers!