|
 The
Brave One (2007)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Warner / 2008
Director: Neil Jordan
Writer: Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor & Cynthia Mort
Cast: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews & Mary
Steenburgen
Review by Brian Harris
David and Erica are on top of the world as they plan to take
their relationship to the next level and get married. It
appears as though nothing can come between them until an
innocent walk in the park ends in tragedy when they’re both
attacked and severely beaten by gang members; Erica barely
survives her injuries but her fiancé David dies. Instead of
mourning the loss and moving on with her life, Erica
purchases a gun off the street and begins trolling for scum
to blow away.
Solid Acting? Check. Jaw-dropping violence? Check. Jodie
Foster looking exceptionally well for her age? Check. Hmm,
this sounds like a winner, doesn’t it? Well, believe it or
not…it is. The Brave One is a believable and effective
revenge thriller that’s highly reminiscent of 1974’s Death
Wish. In my opinion, Death Wish is a classic and Bronson is
the man’s man to end all man’s men but Jodie Foster acts
circles around Bronson and, let’s be honest, is far better
looking. Does that mean this is a better film? I wouldn’t
say its better but it’s a damn good film nonetheless.
Anybody noticing a trend developing in cinema these last few
years in which the old is, once again, becoming the new? At
one time, the very idea that we’d see revenge thrillers like
The Brave One, Death Sentence or Descent again was
mind-blowing because these kinds of films lost their
acceptability amongst t civilized moviegoers long ago.
Revenge thrillers are like the bell bottoms and baby Jane
shoes of cinema, they just don’t die. I hope we see more
like The Brave One in the future. |
