Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

When radio show host Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) is the victim of a violent attack in New York City she makes the life-altering choice to take the law into her own hands in a string of vigilante justice incidents that attract the interest of both the media and the police.

Personally I love films about vigilante justice, I find nothing more satisfying than to hear about someone who has had enough of being taken advantage of and stands up to do something about it. You don’t, however see many movies exploring not what the vigilante does to his victims but what the actions do to the vigilante.

The Brave One is an intense and powerful journey into the act of revenge and the affect it has on the one commiting it. Jodie Foster makes a triumphant return as Erica Bain a New York Radio personality who has a great deal of love for her home town until one fateful night she and her Fiance David, played by Naveen Andrews, are attacked by a group of street thugs leaving David dead and Erica Hospitalised for weeks. After her release from hospital, she finds that she is terrfied to leave her appartment and not only takes up smoking, becomes almost dependant on anti-depressants. She will not be defeated, however and buys a gun. Then begins a path of vigilante justice from which neither she or her victims can escape.

Her actions soon catch the attention of Detective Mercer, played by Terrence Howard, a long serving veteran of the NYPD and all round good cop. Erica takes an interest in mercer as well however and although he is unaware of her secret life Mercer begins to spend more and more time with Erica and the pair become friends.

The film is very intense and hugely unforgiving and both Foster and Howard give outstanding performances. I was hugely impressed with the film over all. Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, In Dreams and Interview with a Vampire) has made the film very stylish with use of slick camera work and very effective fades giving the sense of passing time.

On a negative note the movie did seem slightly too long and I felt that a good 20 minutes could have been taken away without losing any of the film’s integrity. Also, some of the characters weren’t explored as well as I’d have liked. For example, one of Erica’s friends, an artist played by Jane Adams is first seen in passing near the beginning of the film and seems interesting but is not featured in the story again.

These negative points didn’t bother me too much though, certainly not enough for me not to enjoy the film. If you’re a fan of either actor or a fan of this genre at all I seriously think you should check it out.

Verdict: