Review of The Brave One (2007) by James Joseph L — 19 Jun 2009

It was the longest day of the year. Midsummer night's dreams of delights and demons, twisting turning until my sheets lay on the floor, damp from sweat. The distant sirens of central London waved through my opened windows to wake me. It was 2.05am. I was restless. I got up and made a cup of tea (black no sugar), went into the living room and switched on the TV. After a bit of channel-hopping I came across Sky Action Movies. I saw The Brave One title come up. Normally I'd give unrecognisable titles a miss, but then I pressed the I button for Info - "Jodie Foster plays vigilante in this Neil Jordan thriller".

I decided to give it a chance and the entertainment commenced. Rarely have I stayed up through the night to watch a movie, but this one was well worth it.

Despite what the critics say, one can identify with Foster's character Erica Bain. She's had her pretty nice life cruelly ripped apart by three mindless thugs. Gone are her fiance, her dog, her confidence, her loving tenderness and her morals. Well, not completely. She's still got her radio presenter's job which is cleverly weaved into the plot and for the next ninety minutes we see inside Erica Bain's mind as she wrestles wholeheartedly with her conscience through the tools of her job - a radio script. She's on a moral roller coaster. She knows what she is doing is wrong, but is compelled to react to situations - and boy does she react in some well orchestrated set pieces.

We are talking point blank bullets taking out some real nasty pieces of work. Throughout the movie, one can't help rooting for her and at the same time empathizing with her loss of love and conscience crisis.

Terence Howard's Detective Mercer is perfect foil for Foster's vigilante. Where Erica Bain is an instictive lethal weapon, Mercer is the calm methodical pillar that is slowly piecing it all together. If Foster is like Charles Bronson with a heavy heart then Howard is as close to Henry Fonda in his performance of cop with the utmost integrity. It's a fine contrast between the two leads and their scenes together work superbly well.

Neil Jordan's direction is also something of note. Here we see the sure hand of a professional in his peak years, evidenced by excellent use of locations, terrific pace, some clever transitions and economic use of effects. Yes there's brutality and gore going on, but it's contained and thus leaves a lot to the imagination.

The script does have some corny moments which is a pity. I sometimes wish I could sit down with directors and be a script consultant as so many movies are ruined with one or two lines. The Brave One though is not that bad but there are a few lines that jar, for example when Erica pulls a gun on a bad guy and declares "I want my dog back" It just didn't fit. There are one or two more brief moments of dialogue that seem to be more Arnold Schwarzenegger than Jodie Foster. But don't let it ruin the experience this is a great thriller.

And so it's 62 minutes since this film ended - 5.48 am. Outside all I can hear are the birds whistling, the wood pigeons coos come through the windows now instead of the sirens. The morning has broken and another fine film is in the hard drive in my head, if not yet in my DVD collection.

Enjoy The Brave One.