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MOVIE
REVIEW: THE BRAVE ONE

09/13/07

Powerful,
gripping, strong, emotional, aggressive, suspenseful, and
thrilling. When a crime is committed against you, many times
human nature will cause you to seek revenge against those
that did you wrong. The severity of the vendetta is usually
proportional to the severity of the crime. In the case of
Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), a pack of wild homo sapiens
attacked her and her fiancé as they were walking in a park
one evening. It is a simple case of being in the wrong place
at the wrong time but the outcome was far from simple. They
were robbed, beaten, and beaten some more. They used fists,
kicks, pipes, the floor, and the surrounding walls as
weapons. They tossed the victims around like rag dolls and
turned them into mush. Erica miraculously survived but her
fiancé David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews) was not as fortunate.
Going from picking out wedding invitations to no longer
having your future groom alive because of a stupid mugging
is enough to push anyone over the edge. Erica would never be
the same, and how. The severity of her retaliation was
self-consuming and she would not stop until she confronted
her attackers once more. She inevitably became a
unidentified vigilante in the city of New York bringing to
life her own brand of justice.
The first sentence above describes my reaction to this
movie. A lot of that is thanks to a chilling performance by
Jodie Foster. I don’t think she can do a bad acting job if
she tried. Actually, not only does that first sentence
describe the movie, it describes Jodie’s character as well
as her performance. I would be very surprised if she doesn’t
get an Oscar nomination out of this. She completely commands
every scene she is in. Terrence Howard as Detective Mercer
does a pretty good job as well. He is the good cop trying to
do his job, trying to make sense of this mess, and trying to
figure out who this vigilante is. Terrence is a good actor
in his own right, but Jodie is just too tough to keep up
with. She is so perfectly cast as the victim type character,
such as in The Accused, Panic Room, and Flightplan, that she
has it down to an art form. The defenseless becomes the
defender and later the attacker, and she is fantastic in
each of these stages. She has by far topped all her recent
performances.
What helps an actor go over the top is a good script.
Writers Roderick Taylor and Bruce Taylor have provided a
fresh, intelligent, modern, and realistic script that gave
wings to the performers. The cinematography was also well
done and helped set the appropriate moods throughout. Even
though the story line was far from unique, all the other
aspects of the film made it seem like a brand new concept.
Even though the path of the film was predictable, the climax
at the end had a slight twist that I certainly was not
expecting. Wow, I really don’t think I’ve ever seen anything
like that before.
Director Neil Jordan (Breakfast on Pluto, The Crying Game,
The Miracle, We’re No Angels) has really outdone himself
with this project. There was, however, a transitional gap
between Erica as a complete gun rookie to an all-of-a-sudden
gun expert handling it better than most. It was a little
confusing. At times she seemed to have comic book hero
qualities which I hope Neil did not intend. She needed to be
more grounded to maintain the realistic drama of the story.
But I forgive you Neil, for Jodie’s sake. I can appreciate
the statement your making about this country’s justice
system. I don’t know, what do you think . . . would crime
decrease if we had more vigilantes in the world?
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
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People Movie Review
The Brave One
vijay |
100 |
one of the greatest performances of all
time. Jodie is simply superb. The film
has a lightening pace and never gets
dull. The direction is smooth and the
film has some interesting twists. |
Judy |
100 |
Jodie Foster does not get the
recognition she deserves. I love her
movies because she totally steps out of
character. This movie had me applauding
for her and crying at the end because I
thought she might not get her revenge.
Terrance Howard is also a subperb actor
and sexy as always. Teaming
these two was so enjoyable as both are
great. |
Nicki |
100 |
I am not much of a movie goer but this
one peaked my interest. I think Jodie
Foster is the best actress that I have
seen in a very long time. She puts
everything into a movie and still shies
away from the Hollywood life. I respect
her in not getting caught up in all that
glitz. She is so reserved and mysterious
which makes movies like Brave One
totally exciting. When she approaches
the gate and wants her dog back I
actually let out a scream at that scene.
I didn't expect what happened and yet it
tickled me that she didn't waste any
words. The attacker didn't even have
time to blink. The movie was beyond
thrilling. The
ending was a real piece of work too. Who
would have thought that one up.
Well done! |
John |
100 |
Jodie Foster is a marvel, taking an
other wise well made (very well made)
genre flick and making it masterful.
Wow. Her first riveting role was as the
young prostitute who was saved by the
vigilante, this time she was the
vigilante saving the young prostitute.
Jodie is at the peak of her powers and
one of the greats of her generation.
Awesome. |
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Director: Neil Jordan
Writer: Cynthia Mort (Screenplay)
Roderick Taylor (Story, Screenplay)
Bruce A. Taylor (Story, Screenplay)
Genre:
Psychological
Thriller
Duration: 2hrs
Staring:
Jodie Foster
Terrence Howard
Naveen Andrews
Mary Steenburgen
Producer:
Joel Silver
Susan Downey
Distributor: Warner Bros
Rating:
R
Release Date: September 14, 2007
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