The Brave One (Jordan, 2007)

[madali]

The Brave One (Jordan, 2007)
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One sweet night, Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) and her fiancé get randomly beaten up by thugs in a tunnel. They record the whole thing and put Erica in a three week coma, which when she wakes up realizes that her husband was killed in the attack and buried.

Not the best of times in Erica’s life.

Initially traumatized to the level of finding it too difficult to leave the house, she finally finds the courage to get a gun. During a plot-convenient part where someone shoots a woman in a store, Erica defends herself by shooting the man. She finds the incident terrifying but slightly empowering.

Americans love films about vigilantes, given that taking things in their own hands is deeply engraved in their cultural identity, and the birth and foundation of their nation. Films like “The Brave One” are nothing new in American film industry, and while interesting in parts, it does not bring anything new to the (bloody) table.

“I always believed that fear belonged to other people. Weaker people. It never touched me. And then it did. And when it touches you, you know... that it's been there all along. Waiting beneath the surfaces of everything you loved.”

3/5

[ayaa1977]

I remember that I liked the film more than many. It doesn't glamorize revenge. It actually shows how disturbed Erica is and how it consumes her, but more than the film I loved Jodie Foster who even in a generic film like Flight Plan gives a 110% and even elevates whatever she does to a higher place. As for the film, I agree with Mad and gives it 3/5.

[fizz]

but more than the film I loved Jodie Foster who even in a generic film like Flight Plan gives a 110% and even elevates whatever she does to a higher place

Perfectly put. Both this film and Flight Plan are average B-grade films (this being slightly better) but Foster's sincere and nuanced performance lends an air of watch-ability to both these films. I especially liked the delicate relationship between Foster and Terrence Howard.