Theatrical Review of The Brave One

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The thread of duality which runs through "The Brave One" extends from Erica Bain, as played by Jodie Foster, to the audience. On the one hand, the radio show host knows her vigilante actions are wrong; but on the other, a part of her needs to make the streets safer for even one person after watching her fiancé (Naveen Andrews) get beat to death. That´s the dichotomy which plagues Bain in the second half of the film, bringing out a Jekyll and Hyde of sorts.

It´s not as if Bain enjoys the killing. To call her a vigilante is a disservice to the character. A vigilante, in pop culture terms, is someone like Batman, who purposely walks the streets looking for people who break the law. Batman patrols the night, making Gotham City safer than it would otherwise. Bain isn´t Batman: the criminals she guns down attack her first. Most are killed in self defense; the others in revenge. But a vigilante, as she is dubbed by the film itself? Nope.

One has to wonder, though, how a woman who has lived in New York City for any length of time has avoided any semblance of crime for so long, yet runs into instance after instance in quick succession. A case can be made that she kept to safe locales previously and never put herself in a hazardous position. Maybe it is the added security she feels by wielding a weapon and having used it before.

Or maybe watching David (Andrews) get bludgeoned to death has made her immune to being scared for herself. "The Brave One" is a movie in which a fair number of questions are asked-questions we might ask ourselves in the same situation-but none are really answered definitively. To answer those questions would be to get inside Erica Bain´s head, to let her be more personal, more open than the story itself wants to allow.

Bain takes an interest in the police investigation of the people she´s killed to see what law enforcement has found out, not out of any journalistic obligation. Along the way, she befriends Terrence Howard´s Mercer, a cop who despises the thought of someone doing his job-getting rid of the bad guys-for him. Not once does he question her inquisitiveness even though he knows what type of show she has. It´s a "sounds of the city" show in which Bain tells stories-coupled with audio-she comes across. Why would this woman, herself a victim of a crime, be interested in his work? He arrives at the conclusion far too late, as is customary in these types of movies.

This is Jodie Foster´s movie, with all due respect to Howard and Andrews. They both add different shades and personalities (ie. male sensibilities) to the film, but "The Brave One" is Foster´s to make or break. It should be no shock, then, she delivers from start to finish. Whatever emotion she´s projecting-elation early on to quiet resolve near the end-it´s impossible to take your eyes off of her performance. She´s so slight in build you almost want to hold her and promise everything will be alright. Then in a flash she turns into someone to fear, someone who is going to protect us.

Mercer´s partner, a cop played by Nicky Katt, is completely forgettable and disposable. His only function in the film is to make smart ass comments while Mercer does the actual work. He´s the only unneeded character in the film.

There are small scenes throughout the movie which don´t make a lot of sense. After the attack, David´s mother visits her in the hospital, never to be seen again. Ditto for a friend of Erica´s. She phones once and shouts on the street one more time…and then drops out of the movie. You would think a friend would be more insistent on making sure everything was alright, doubly so since Erica doesn´t have family in the area.

Another scene comes fairly soon after. Mercer talks to his ex-wife in a bar regarding a case he´s working on. He implores her to help a young girl pro bono. She refuses. End of scene. What did that possibly set up, besides the fact Mercer is divorced? That he has a heart? A tease of a relationship with Erica? In a film where everything builds on top of itself in order to add layers to the story, these scenes seem to be superfluous.

None of that can take away from the dual story "The Brave One" wants to tell. A women driven to be something she isn´t. A proverbial angel and devil sitting on her shoulders, enticing her to their side. Foster doesn´t have to speak the words to convey the message, her magnificent blue eyes show us what she´s feeling at all times. She continues to show why she doesn´t need to make three movies a year or star in big budget summer spectacles to reaffirm her spot alongside male contemporaries Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks as exceptional actors.

"The Brave One" isn´t easy to watch due to its high quotient of violence and blood. Its engaging star and riveting star overcome both of those issues, making this the first in a long line (hopefully) of high powered fall movies which don´t let up until the end credits. Even though the eventual ending is a bit of a jumble, the movie rates a wholly recommended 7 out of 10.

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