The Brave One --- With Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard
Written: Mar 17 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: intriguing story, strong characters, Terrence Howard, very well written
Cons: none really
The Bottom Line: I thought that this was an excellent film, and that Foster and Howard both put in exceptional acting performances that bring a lot of drama to the story.
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| three_ster's Full Review: The Brave One |
It is numbing; disturbing; to find inside ourselves lies a stranger.
Jodie Foster is back with a vengeance in her new thriller The Brave One. I may be overstepping things when I call the film a "thriller" though, as the intent of the story is to show how the events of one woman's life lead her to step out of her normalcy, and indeed become "the brave one." Foster stars as Erica Bain, a radio talk-show host who has a late night show about walking the streets of New York. She sees the city as a safe place, though at the same time feeling that it has lost a little bit of its past as a result of transition. It is a strong fore-shadowing about what her character will be going through a few short scenes later, and really sets the tone for how her character is going to approach a really adverse situation.
Playing opposite Foster in the beginning, is British actor Naveen Andrews, who television fans know best as Sayid Jarrah on ABC's Lost. Their relationship has been growing quite rapidly, and it looks like they are heading towards getting married, with it being a prevalent topic of conversation in the short time we get to see them together. Right at the beginning of the film, when the two characters are out walking their dog in the park, they are brutally attacked by three street-thugs that are doing it just for kicks. The attack leaves Erica seriously injured and in a coma, but unfortunately ends up killing David (Andrews). She wakes up to already find him gone, and seems lost in her own world until she has a wake-up call that sends her down an entirely different track in life.
While trying to meet with the police about the attack, and finding herself waiting for hours upon hours in the lobby, she ends up walking out and coming to a gun-shop where she decides that she has had enough. Purchasing the gun sets her character up for what the previews show as a mission of vigilantism, and one which could put her on a crash course towards her own destruction. Hers is not the only story that we are treated with, as we get to follow the lead detective of her case (and several others) as he does his job, and ultimately starts to cross paths with Erika. His name is Detective Mercer (Played by Terrence Howard), and he adds a really good dynamic to the story as a detective that has always done things by the book, and prides himself on the ability to always do the right thing. With Foster and Howard leading the characters development front, the story becomes both exciting and dramatic as it begins to really pick up steam.
This is one of those films that could easily be set aside, or tossed into a stereotypical mold of a woman being scorned and seeking revenge for the event. My problem with that assessment is that the acting talents of Foster really take the character to a different level than anticipated, and instead of being transparent, presents many different levels of emotion and flavor. Howard himself is no slouch, having really come into his own recently, and he brings his 'A' game to The Brave One as well. He too is absolved of a cookie-cutter role, and is really able to show his range with the character of Mercer. Together they put on one heck of a film, and though I went into watching it with mixed reservations, I came out the other side very impressed with the story. If anything about this picture interests you, I would suggest seeing it, because it was quite well done.
Recommended:
Yes
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