Foster convinces as the petrified victim turned vengeful killer and Howard is superb as the world weary detective. Together, they just about managed to save a frequently ham-fisted script.
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.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence, language and some sexuality.
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Justice, Thriller, New York City, Revenge, Theatrical Release
Theatrical Release:Sep 14, 2007 Wide
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 The fear that had once paralyzed her has been replaced by something else...something that drives her to reclaim the life that was taken from her that night...something that Erica does not even recognize in herself.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
It wants to be a modern Taxi Driver; it manages to be the new Falling Down, with Foster as fierce as ever.
Foster is terrific and Jordan's direction is impressive, but the film doesn't quite succeed, due to the strain of trying to be both angry revenge thriller and emotional, thought-provoking drama.
Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard deliver unforgettable performances that elevate this movie to more than a revenge film.
Masterwork of craft, manipulating viewer emotions to elicit unthinking responses and unabashed bloodlust.
Too unpleasantly stern to be exploitation, and too bloodthirsty to be drama.
At its best, this high-toned vigilante picture depicts a woman almost literally transformed by violence, first as a victim, then as a participant; she could be a cousin to one of the car-wreck victims in David Cronenberg's 'Crash.'
Bravura performances can't save this 'One, a run-of-the-mill vigilante flick from director Neil Jordan (not known for his run-of-the-mill anything).
And that brings us the bad stuff, heretofore known as the script. The story keeps on putting Erica in harm's way, so much that you're not sure why. I mean, would a woman alone really ride on the subway at night?
Be care of the bait and switch. The film flip-flops from start to finish between a heart film with a vigilante and a vigilante film with a heart.
In Jordan's hands, the film becomes a tormented trip into a nightmarish world of murky darkness and neo-Expressionist camera angles.
With all the thematic false starts and missed opportunity, The Brave One boils down to violence begets violence, and says it cures all the pain of loss.
...one of the most compelling and flat-out exciting revenge thrillers to come along in quite some time.
[Despite some flaws,] I do recommend the movie - for Foster's stunning performance and for the story's willingness to explore the honest-to-goodness implications of violence.
I think The Brave One could have been a better film with a different ending, but it’s still a well-crafted, thought-provoking story with outstanding performances.
Latest News for The Brave One
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