<The Movie Club>

The Brave One (Film)

Published Sunday, October 14, 2007 by The Movie Club | E-mail this post

Director: Neil Jordan

Cast: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Mary Steenburgen

RunTime: 1 hr 59 mins

Rating: NC-16 (Violence)

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster always seems to play the ‘trapped’ woman. From the trapped victim (The Accused), trapped FBI Agent hounded by the man-eater (Silence of the Lambs) to being trapped in spaces (Panic Room) and planes (Flightplan).

This time she plays a radio talk show host trapped in her wounds and fear after her finance was violently killed in a random attack. The fearful and vulnerable woman recuperates from her physical injuries and becomes a fearless shoot, never to recover from her emotional hurt. She gets a gun, and shows gangsters and thugs she is not one to be trifled with.

Once again, Jodie Foster scores as the woman with a grudge, with Terence Howard making a convincing part as the police officer. Look at the scores of actresses, and nobody can really play her role with that much intense and emotional depth at the same time.

You will enjoy the film’s quiet moments, when Jodie Foster reads lines of her programme, or listen to Sarah MaLachlan’s Answer. The movie’s most silent parts, is the most affecting and thought-provoking parts.

Towards the end, it becomes a “Bang! Bang! Bang!” affair. Part insanity, part Kill Bill humour and part Hollywood. As Jodie Foster goes, “I want my dog” and “Bang! Bang!”, you laugh at how something serious can end so conveniently. Yes, even her movies can be trapped in the commercial cycle.

The Brace One - How many wrongs can make it right? None.