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The Brave One
Reviewed by Theo Michelfeld
Posted: September 15, 2007

Common sense would seem to dictate that a film about vigilante justice should know where it stands on that controversial subject. But the makers of the new film The Brave One have something else to offer, regardless of common sense. Here’s a film that illustrates both the empowering and the soul-destroying consequences of vengeance, how street justice is as much an act of fear as it as an act of strength, and how the vigilante both heals and cripples herself and society at large. The Brave One has the guts to dramatize and philosophize with equal vigor on either side of this issue, and the wisdom to let the whole tormented conundrum play out on the face of a great actress, Jodie Foster. The results are a story not so much about a noble way of life, but about one individual’s loss and pursuit of self, and it’s a compelling journey to take. But the destination, once we get there, feels less like a conclusion to events than an arbitrary creative choice, and that’s thanks entirely to the film’s own calculated ambivalence. Nice effort gang, but a tightrope walk only really impresses if you make it all the way across.

In The Brave One, Jodie Foster plays Erica Bain, a radio poet of some kind, whose broadcast allows her to ruminate on the city she inhabits, knows, and loves: New York. Erica is comfortably employed and happily engaged, but a short time into the proceedings, she and her fiancée are accosted and severely beaten by thugs in Central Park. Only Erica survives. When she awakens, she finds herself paralyzed with fear. And soon enough, in order to feel safe again, she buys a gun.

There’s a chilling moment in this sequence. When Erica is informed she’ll have to wait 30 days to buy a handgun, she responds, “I won’t survive 30 days,” and she is utterly convincing, despite the fact that she is in no danger whatsoever. At times like this, The Brave One shows real promise. The screenwriters, and of course Jodie Foster, show in heartbreaking detail the psychological damage caused by violent crime. They also plant the seed that Erica’s subsequent killing spree is driven as much by fear as by rage, and that makes her a more realistic screen vigilante than most, if not all, of her predecessors.

Erica, of course, begins walking the night and shooting creeps, and her killings begin escalating from crimes of opportunity to the cold-blooded stalking of known criminals. Meanwhile, she befriends and more-or-less falls in love with the detective on her case, and if that sounds preposterous, I can only say that this relationship is brilliantly written, brilliantly acted, and consistently riveting. Detective Mercer is played by Terrence Howard, who would probably hold our attention if we were asked to watch him organize his sock drawer. Meanwhile, watching him fall for Erica and then slowly realize she’s an outlaw is a real treat. For maybe an hour of screen time these two characters give and withhold information, search each other for clues, and develop an increasing mutual fondness and admiration. It’s fascinating, and it almost had me convinced I was watching a terrific movie.

But in the end, The Brave One betrays itself and its characters. The effort to maintain its own moral duality proves just too much, and the film finally gives up not so much out of laziness but exhaustion. Too bad, because a lame ending can make a lot of what precedes it look like a sham.

That said, it cannot be overstated how good Jodie Foster’s performance is. Much of this film’s drama occurs internally, beneath her exquisitely interesting surfaces. She delivers her dialogue with all the nuances of a woman who doesn’t quite believe in what she’s doing. And even her body language contradicts itself; with each step she walks like a killer and like a victim. She does deliver the complexity the film’s screenplay merely aspires to, and it’s well worth the price of admission. The Brave One, more than anything, is about the genius of Jodie Foster. 

Copyright © 2007 Theo Michelfeld