For a while, Jodie Foster made movies so rarely, that every time one came out it was almost like an event. Yet she's released a movie every single year for the past four years, so the events are getting to be fewer and farther between. However, given the quality of such recent films as The Panic Room and Flightplan, it might be best for Jodie to rethink her game plan and start going back to event season for moviegoers. Her newest movie, The Brave One, confirms that this might be a wise decision.
I love Jodie Foster. I think she's one of the best actresses to ever be put on display in the modern cinema. Knowing that she usually chooses quality over quantity in the work she does, I was looking forward to The Brave One. Going in, I wanted to like it...I really did. I still do, to some degree--and if it weren't for the last third of the film, I'd probably love it. Unfortunately, that last portion does exist, and it overshadows whatever good graces the movie had built up before that last reel unspooled.
The Brave One is a type of throwback tale to the exploitation films of the Dirty Harry and Death Wish era--revenge for the sake of a victim making themselves feel better about the crime perpetra-ted against them, or because no one else within the legal system is prepared to adequately dispense justice. We've all been there before, to some degree: every time we see some jackass going double the speed limit, every time a white collar crime wipes out the dreams of hundreds of stockholders while we honestly go about eking out our existences at jobs we can't stand, every time a billionaire gets another show of love from the government via a tax break they don't deserve, we long for a karmic balancing of the scales. Man is a social animal, yes...but we are all still animals, and we still contain the primal need for revenge buried deep within our DNA, which is part of what The Brave One is all about.
Jodie Foster and Naveen Andrews(Lost, the "Planet Terror" portion of Grindhouse) play talk radio host Erica Bain and doctor David Kirmani, a couple in absolute love in New York City. They're so in love, that David is constantly trying to nudge Erica towards eloping, but she gently refuses, knowing how much a wedding would mean to David's mom(Yolande Bavan). They've just picked out invitations for their wedding in fact, and are walking their dog one night when they're set upon by a group of young thugs out for some brutal self amusement. David is beaten to death and Erica is put into a coma from which she awakens three weeks later to find her life shattered.
During her recovery, she briefly sorts through mug shots with police officers, only to find her memory sketchy of the events, the faces of the thugs blurring together indiscriminately with the pics she is shown. She attempts to put her life together as best she can, but finds she is terrified of simply walking out of her apartment building. This serves to underscore both the real fear victims feel, but also puts on display the unevenness of the film's direction by Neil Jordan (Interview With The Vampire and the much-overhyped and underwhelming The Crying Game). While the scene in which David and Erica are attacked is gritty, very realistic and brutal, Jordan's use of tilted angles to demonstrate Erica's unease with venturing back into the world is not only a cliche, but it undercuts Foster's ability to emote. Jodie Foster is such an accomplished actress that she is perfectly capable of conveying through facial expressions alone the fears her character must deal with in attempting to reenter society, but in this instance Jordan inexplic-ably doesn't let her. Fortunately, his use of tilting is limited to this initial exercise.
One day, Erica finally decides to force herself outdoors. It's a harrowing experience for her, as even the proximity of innocent kids at play makes her shudder. She attempts to buy a gun from a local shop, but is rebuffed by the owner for lack of a license. A browser in the store overhears her and approaches her as she leaves, enticing her into buying an illegal gun from him(with bullets thrown in gratis) for $1,000 bucks. She does so, and to the film's credit(and much like the surprisingly good Death Sentence), she is shown being taught how to fire it. Soon enough, of course, the opportunity presents itself for the new Erica to show what she's made of, when a jilted ex-husband walks into a bodega one night and shoots the proprietor--his wife--in cold blood. With her own life threatened and having no choice, Erica takes out her own piece and ends his life. Although shaken, she thinks clearly enough to take what little evidence there is to tie her to the crime and heads home directly. She is surprised when no police come to her door, and is able to almost return to her life. After an encounter with two miscreants on a subway train(and making quick work of them as well), Erica has found her confidence and comfort in the power of the gun.
The Brave One isn't a morality tale by any standards, but it does set up some questions, such as: When does one truly cross the line between vigilantism and justice? Does killing someone who might "deserve it" make it right? After all, in response to a similar question in Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood's character acknowledged "We all have it comin'."
In addition to Foster's character, The Brave One might also refer to the character of Detective Mercer, played by Terence Howard. Mercer is a good, caring, decent and honest cop who plays by the rules and believes in society's rules of law. He believes in them so firmly, in fact, that when a wife-murdering high profile white collar criminal who has thus far been legally untouch-able is killed by the so-called "subway vigilante", Mercer admonish-es his partner(the completely forgettable and annoying Nicky Katt) for favoring the vigilante's methods. With the manner of his diverse roles in such films as Hustle & Flow and Crash, Terence Howard is finally emerging as an acting power to be reckoned with in Holly-wood, and being cast in a movie where he has to hold his own with the formidable Foster proves it. It's quite possible that Howard is this era's Billy Dee Williams.
The Brave One expects a lot from its audience in the suspen-sion of disbelief department. While Erica and Mercer form a solid and believable friendship throughout the movie, the picture asks us to accept that somehow Erica just happens to find herself in several incredible situations where she has no recourse but to take the law into her own hands. Of course, setting the movie in New York City does lend this some credibility. While not as crime-ridden as it once was, there are still enough seedy areas where folks need to walk through quickly and with eyes wide open.
Aside from the unreliable Katt, performances are solid through-out. Even Mary Steenburgen(Philadelphia, Back to the Future III) and Jane Adams(Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events), two actresses I find most annoying and forgettable, respectively, turn in good work here. The score by Dario Marianelli(V for Vendetta) is atmospheric but uneven; at times it sounds more like it belongs in an action film like Batman Begins(and I could swear I even heard a riff lifted from that nouveau classic) than a film of this sort. The Brave One has action in it, but it defin-itely isn't an action film. It's a straight-up drama. Aside from the tilt-cam displayed early on, Neil Jordan's direction and grasp on the storyline is airtight...until the ending, that is. While there are many minor contrivances set up by the film's plot, the internal logic of the story takes a 180 degree turn within the last fifteen minutes...and without giving it away, I can tell you this is the reason I only like the film and don't find myself loving it.
While I'm not a fan of the ending, I still recommend The Brave One, if for no other reason than the performances of Foster and Howard. The ending isn't nearly as implausible and stupid as the last fifteen minutes of The Departed, but it will more than likely leave you unsatisfied, depending on what side of the vigilante stance you take.
Jodie Foster shut down her Egg Productions company a while back, so she could focus more on her kids. She might want to step away from the other side of the camera for just a little bit as well, for our sake. It would be nice if she started taking time again when judging stories, so that the next time she stands before us, it will truly be an event.
Official Archives of LanceReviews...
Brave? Only just so much...
Like Jodie on the poster, this film isn't sure of its own convictions.
Naveen Andrews and Jodie Foster play a couple who seem to have it all...and lose it just as quickly.
This scene will probably not make it into the next New York tourism campaign ad.
Terence Howard plays a good old-fashioned, honest cop... something not always seen in cinema these days.
After her boyfriend gets offed, Jodie Foster's character decides to go the Charles Bronson route for payback.
Erica(Foster) and Detective Mercer(Howard) form an easy friendship...which leads to consequences for both of them.
