Movie Review: THE BRAVE ONE

The movies have been a little dry these past few weeks with nothing urgeing me to get out there but Oscar season is not far at all.....

the brave one
(8/10)


Jodie Foster can do it all and this movie proves it even more so. After literally loving PANIC ROOM and FLIGHTPLAN to death- I was excited to see yet another drama/thriller type movie from her. This one also starred one of my new favorite actors, Terrance Howard, and the premise seemed cool enough so I was ready.

The Brave One poses some serious questions that are hard to answer and much like another movie that I adored but critics weren't crazy about, The Life of David Gale, your personal opinions on the matters at hand can be what make or break the movie for you.

Erica Bain is a successful radio show host who is engaged to a doctor, things in her life are finally going her way but one dark night in NYC while walking her dog with her significant other, a group of gangsters up to no good jump the shit out of the two and Erica is left for dead but somehow makes it out alive while her boyfriend doesn't.

Very sad and disturbing right from the beginning and we dive into Erica's descent into madness- the incident scars her and she'll stop at nothing to kill the bad criminals of the night. But are we happy shes doing this? Justice served? How will this all end?

Terrance Howard comes into play as a detective who is on the case of these somehow connected vigilante killings, he can't seem to put his finger on it but deep down he knows Erica just may be involved. While the whole world can't even begin to think that maybe just maybe this could be done by a female. His performance along with Jodies are masterful. Instead of connecting with these characters and feeling like one of them- we are certainly on the outside looking in and we can't see, only wonder what the two are thinking.

In the end, things aren't tied up nicely with a bow or anything- we don't know how these two are going to end up---Will Erica be ok? I don't know. But some movies are good in this way in that they challenge our beliefs. But I can see how some people would absolutely hate the ending, if that makes sense. You really just got to see it for yourself even if its just for the amazing acting.