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Critics 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.
Critic 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.
All Critics (183) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (79) | Rotten (104) | DVD (8)
The Brave One is not merely the most morally repellent film of the year, but a contender for the stupidest.
Neil Jordan ought to be doing more challenging material than this overblown, overwrought thriller that has only obvious points to make about the moral swamp that is urban vigilantism.
Beautifully played, the tantalising accretion of mutual understanding between Foster and Howard is one of the film's strengths, yet the plot machinations required to lever it into position would overstretch credibility in the clunkiest action flick.
The fire goes out long before the film ends.
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.
Foster does her best with a flawed story whose ending rings even less true than the rest of it.
A superior vigilante flick.
Jodie Foster and thoughtful Irish international director Neil Jordan take us to places we'd probably rather avoid.
The Brave One can at times be a brutal, violent and harrowing portrait of an over burdened system, where thugs rule the streets and the corrupt contaminate the upper echelon of society. It is also an un-original revenge/vigilante story.
Deplorable urban-vengeance melodrama
You know what would be brave? Making an unflinching film about a difficult-to-tackle topic and complex characters, and sticking to your message, damn the torpedoes.
The Brave One is worth seeing for the scenes between Terrence Howard and Jodie Foster.
A rather original film, or so I thought - my friends tell me it's a Death Wish rip-off, so I'm adding that one to the list of shame! - in which a radio host becomes a sort of she-Batman (with a gun), a vigilante driven by rage at her lover's murder. I though the premise was interesting and contemporary, but unfortunately the script is grossly overwritten and the story unfolds at a plodding and wandering pace, becoming predictable, too, when the cops repeat certain details or make a big note of given evidence and thereby tell us the formulaic direction this movie will take before reaching its too-contrived "twist" ending. I did like the way Jodie Foster showed several sides of this character, though, particularly the emboldened radio persona she adopts, and Mary Steenburgen's bit part and Terrence Howard's lead cop role were both well played. It was a real shame how little this script rewarded the actors' work in this neo-noir miss.
Super Reviewer
This thriller takes the classic revenge story and adds a deeply psychological level: what does violence happening against us and those we love to our soul? In case of Jodie Foster's case here we get so afraid that we start shooting everyone threatening us. The film makes sure to stick to targets that "deserve" that treatment, it never dares to challenge the vigilante point of view by her shooting the wrong guy. The solution to the whole dilemma adds to the fact that the film chickens out on positioning itself. Of course it does not ask for anyone to raise arms and enforce to their own ideas of the law. It does let the character get away with this a little too easily and that leaves a stale taste in your mouth. The camera work and acting is top notch, no complaints there. This could have just been so much more enthralling and morally ambiguous.
A victim of a brutal mugging becomes a vigilante. Stylishly directed by Neil Jordan, as she did in Flightplan and Panic Room Jodie Foster summons her inner bad ass, and the result is another convincing performance from a very talented actress. The film, however, is not well written. Mercer, the detective assigned to the case of Foster's vigilante killer, is not constructed well, transitioning at a critical moment in the third act illogically; his plan doesn't even make sense within the plot. What is more, the film essentially supports vigilantism without a critical eye. It would be a more complex exploration of this idea if Erica killed someone whom she realizes is innocent of any mortal sin. Also, the style of the film - Neil Jordan moving the camera like it's a boat at sea - is occasionally effective but eventually annoying. Overall, despite all the great work Foster does, I think there's little that could have saved this film as it is written.
Formuliac revenge piece ala Charles Bronson's Death Wish series of the 70's with Jodie Foster in the lead but little more to recommend it. Terrance Howard and the rest of the supporting cast cannot believe that a woman would turn vigilante ... which is tougher acting than it sounds.
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