Directed by:
Neil JordanCinematography:
Philippe RousselotComposer:
Dario MarianelliCast:
Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Nicky Katt, Naveen Andrews, Mary Steenburgen, Jane Adams, Gordon MacDonald, Zoë Kravitz, John Magaro, Carmen Ejogo (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
For Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), the streets of New York are both her home and her livelihood. She shares the sounds and the stories of her beloved city with her radio audience as the host of the show Street Walk. At night, she goes home to the love of her life, her fiancé David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews). But everything Erica knows and loves is ripped from her on one terrible night when she and David are ambushed in a random, vicious attack that leaves David dead and Erica fighting for her life. Though Erica's broken body heals, deeper wounds remain - the devastation of losing David and, even more overwhelmingly, a suffocating fear that haunts her every step. The city streets she had once loved to roam, even places that had been warm and familiar, now feel strange and threatening. When the fear finally becomes too much to bear, Erica makes a fateful decision to arm herself against it. The gun in her hand becomes a tangible way to protect herself from an intangible enemy... or so she thinks. (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (3)
This very interesting, original thriller is a bit like Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, as it is a psychological study of an emotionally broken man and his extreme behavior caused by his fear of the world around him and also of himself. Neil Jordan was an excellent choice. Too bad that the ending is so stupid.
()
The setting in which the story takes place is intimately familiar to experienced cinephiles from the older thriller Death Wish starring Charles Bronson as an uncompromising avenger in the lead role, cleaning the streets of the city and saving taxpayers money on the judicial and prison system. Jodie Foster is a much more versatile character actress with a significantly broader range than Bronson. The Brave One also has a somewhat more complicated screenplay than the former, which soon became a tiresome monotonous series of street executions. On the other hand, the film's problematic moral dimension, where the main character, in the name of her pain, fear, and questionable right to satisfaction, embodies the powers of a prosecutor, judge, and executioner, is indeed present here, and it is only a pity that the screenwriter and director did not find the courage to lead their heroine to a bitter end. Overall impression: 60%.
()
Solid atmosphere and terror halfway, seen through the eyes of a woman. We won't see any muscles, liters of blood, or heroic expressions, Neil Jordan tries to go for a completely different ending. He succeeds, as I mentioned, somehow halfway, but this movie is definitely worth watching. In particular, Jodie Foster excels in these roles, and her dialogues with Terrence Howard are very well-written. There isn’t any shocking brutality like in Taxi Driver, the city is not as dirty, the perverts are not as perverse, and the harshness is not as harsh. It's as if they couldn't fully let go. Fortunately, the ending is fine, and the transformation of the main protagonist is relatively believable. It could have been worse. The tangible credibility is still there, even though you have to spice it up a little and shake it.
()