Back home

The Brave One

1012 votes

Producing House

A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 2007-09-12

Runtime: 122 mins

Director: Neil Jordan

Spoken language: English, Italiano

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Original title: The Brave One

Production Companies: Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

J

John Chard
There is no going back, to that other person, that other place. This thing, this stranger, she is all you are now. Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) survives a vicious subway attack that saw her intended husband killed. Unsatisfied with the police efforts to catch the killers, and submerged by grief, she decides to take matters into her own hands and clear the streets of criminal vermin... Well there's no getting away from it, this is basically a feminist version of Death Wish. Director Neil Jordan pitches the always great Foster right into the moral quagmire of vigilante justice. This is a smart and provocative vigilante thriller at the core, yet the preposterous machinations on show render it somewhat annoying - none more so than with the finale which is just ridiculous. Erica takes up a gun, it becomes her comfort blanket, and as she battles with self loathing of what she is doing, she amazingly starts ridding the streets of scumbags. We are also asked to swallow that she becomes very tight to the lead detective investigating the vigilante crimes, played by Terence Howard (superb). Unfortunately, Jordan seems to run out of guts to follow through in creating something worth saying. Instead pitching Erica in increasingly daft situations, with dialogue to match, for a film with a lady lead kicking butt, the whole thing actually lacks balls. The lead actors ensure it's no stinker, and who doesn't feel a punch the air moment in them as scumbag criminals gets what's due? But really it's an above average vigilante film at best. 6/10
2020-06-20

Recommendations

Smiles
0

Smiles

1964-01-01

A short film by John G. Avildsen.

The Naked City
3.6

The Naked City

1948-03-04

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon

Hana
3.3

Hana

2006-06-03

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge t

Shine on Harvest Moon
3

Shine on Harvest Moon

1944-03-10

Biographical movie about the early 20th century broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.

Run All Night
3.2

Run All Night

2015-03-11

Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon has seen better days. Longtime best friend of a m

They All Come Out
2.8

They All Come Out

1939-08-04

A down on his luck young man stumbles into a gang of robbers who all get landed in prison. Will he b

Big City
3.6

Big City

1948-03-25

A young orphan in New York's Lower East Side is collectively adopted by three neighborhood men--a mi

He Ran All the Way
3.6

He Ran All the Way

1951-06-20

A crook on the run hides out in an innocent girl's apartment.

Clean
3.1

Clean

2022-01-28

Tormented by a past life, garbage man Clean attempts a life of quiet redemption. But when his good i

Scorned
2.4

Scorned

2013-11-14

Sadie and Kevin have decided to spend a romantic weekend together at his lake house. But when an un

Point Blank
3.5

Point Blank

1967-08-30

After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to

Nanny
2.7

Nanny

2022-11-23

Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who takes a job as a nanny for a wealthy white family in New York City

Run! Bitch Run!
2.2

Run! Bitch Run!

2009-09-25

Things go horribly wrong when Catherine and Rebecca, two Catholic School girls, knock on the wrong d

Medea
3.3

Medea

1969-12-28

Based on the plot of Euripides' Medea. Medea centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her p

Rage
2.6

Rage

2014-05-09

When the Russian mob kidnaps the daughter of a reformed criminal, he rounds up his old crew and seek

Fear Is the Key
2.9

Fear Is the Key

1972-12-26

A deep-sea salvage expert enacts an elaborate plan to infiltrate and take revenge on a criminal orga

P.S.
2.8

P.S.

2004-10-15

Louise, an unfulfilled divorced woman with regrets, gets the chance to relive her past when she meet

The Masque of the Red Death
3.3

The Masque of the Red Death

1964-06-24

A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red

Kung Fu Killer
2.5

Kung Fu Killer

2008-08-17

China is in unrest, as the Republic falls prey to Warlords like Kahn Xin, who holds an entire provin

The Stone Killer
3.1

The Stone Killer

1973-08-08

A Los Angeles detective is sent to New York where he must solve a case involving an old Sicilian Maf