Customer Reviews

The Brave One (Valiente) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America] Jodie Foster (Spanish subtitles)

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Trauma, severe trauma, can unleash aspects of the human personality that may appear as a stranger within. Such is the premise for this well-constructed film by Neil Jordan (screenplay by Roderick Taylor and Bruce Taylor), and while the neither concept of trauma-altered personality or revenge tales is new, THE BRAVE ONE alters the vengeance idea just enough to make it credible and to even draw the viewer into believing that what the character is doing is justified and right! And that is perhaps the most frightening aspect of this terrifying film.

Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) is a night radio talk show performer, a woman who walks the city of New York gathering sounds and observing the mysteries of the 'safest big city' and relates her observations poetically to a large radio audience. Erica is engaged to young physician David (Naveen Andrews) and the couple are very much in love. One night on an evening stroll with their dog they are attacked by thugs, beaten with pipes, and David is killed while Erica narrowly survives. Upon awakening from her coma she is devastated by her loss of David and becomes a strangely haunted woman, unable to sleep, unable to get immediate help from the police, and turns to purchasing a gun in an attempt to right the wrongs she has suffered. This new 'person' or 'stranger within' happens to witness a murder in a little store and to her amazement she responds by killing the murderer. A similar situation happens on the subway where two thugs threaten people, threaten Erica, and Erica again responds by killing the thugs. She feels driven to avenge the death of her David, but at the same time fears her own inner stranger. Erica returns to her radio show, under changing instructions form her boss Carol (Mary Steenburgen), and finds the changes in her psyche result in bracing her listeners about fear on the streets. In her audience is Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard) who has personal problems related to the fact that he has been unable to arrest a known killer. Mercer connects with Erica in various ways, she interviews him for her show, and the two bond. Erica trusts Mercer, wants to share what she is doing, yet hears his frustration about not being able to seek his own brand of revenge frustration against the oily killer he pursues, and decides to eliminate that trauma for Mercer. As the tension builds, the identity of Erica's assailants is discovered, and how she deals with these thugs (and with Mercer's interaction in the solution) forms the surprising ending for the film.

Too little has been written and said about the quality of performances from both Foster and Howard in this tense thriller. These two actors deliver performances so sensitive in execution that memories of previous similar films evaporate. This is a tough film to watch for all the violence not only on the screen but from within the characterizations by the actors (with the capable direction of Neil Jordan), but it is for this viewer one of the strongest films of the year. Perhaps now that the DVD can be viewed within the safety of the home more people will pay attention to a film that deserves awards. Grady Harp, February 08

The Brave One continues Jodie Foster's recent foray into the thriller genre. So far, she's produced some pretty good results. She shouldn't be embarassed by either Panic Room, Flightplan, or The Brave One. The writing, directing, and co-stars (Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, etc...) are all excellent and Foster is Foster.

Foster plays Erica Bain, an engaged NPR-type radio show host. One night, she and her fiance are walking in Central Park, and are viciously robbed and attacked. Her fiance is killed, and Erica is basically robbed of her happy existence by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Deciding that revenge is the only way for her to cope with her loss, she proceeds to buy a gun and go on the prowl for her attackers, while developing a friendship with a cop (played by Howard) working on the cases she creates with her vigilantism.

The Brave One shows how a traumatic event can leave psychological scars that are much worse than those of the physical variety. The movie is well-acted, and even if the ending seems unlikely, it seems fair given what has taken place.

The Brave One is a very enjoyable film about a not-so-enjoyable subject - severe trauma and its aftermath. It comes highly recommended.

"The Brave One is an examination of what it might take for a real person to become a vigilante, an examination of what might drive a normal woman to become judge, jury, and executioner." Josh Taylor

Erica Bane played by Jodie Foster is one of those women you want to emulate. She is a free wheeling, honest, liberated woman who loves her job and her man. She works for an NPR like station in the 'safest large city in the world". Her voice is authentic and sexy, intelligent and draws you into her world. She loves her life until...Erica and her fiancee are walking their dog one evening in Central Park when they are both assaulted by a team of thugs. Erica is badly beaten, and her fiancee is beaten to death. One moment in time when your life is unalterably forever changed.

Erica takes three week to recover from her head injury and she goes home, alone to her empty apartment. It takes her days to weeks to obtain the courage to walk out the front door. This tragedy has left her changed, she lives in fear, but she finally determines she will no longer allow the fear to rule her life. Erica buys a gun. She is weak and fearful but she cannot sleep. So, Erica walks the streets at night. She witnesses a convenience store murder and in self defense kills the perpetrator. In this one instance Erica faced her fears and killed them with a gun. As time goes on, Erica faces her fears with her anger spurring her on. What is it that is pushing Erica on? In my mind it is facing her fears and surviving. The film is brilliant in its depiction of Erica facing these fears- her anxiety, her grief. The film gives Erica enough time to explore the confusion, frustration and sadness that envelopes her. This is an extraordinary performance by Jodie Foster, one of her best.

Into the picture comes a police detective played by Terrence Howard. This is one of the most believable performances I have seen. My eyes were opened to this man with his sexy, open, honest performance. He is the only member of the police department who actually listens to Erica. She is torn and tormented by what she is doing but she can't stop.

The grit and determination, the reality of a life living and facing your fears is open for a look within. What this terror, grief, and violence does your life is open for us to view. The clues left and discovered by the police detective is also open for us to view. An extraordinary film that does not gloss over nor trivialize the passion, fears and self loathing that becomes pervasive. I was truly mesmerized by these performances and the film.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 02-07-98

The Accused

Spark

As some have mentioned, this story has been told before. It's been told plenty of times to be more exact. The lack of originality aside though, `The Brave One' still delivers on quite a few levels and manages to leave the audience satisfied. In fact I'm a little stunned at the critical beating this movie took. Some critics made this out to be so terrible that I almost stayed away entirely. I've never been a real fan of Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard just irritates me to no end so really the film had no draw on me to begin with; and then the critics attacked and so I was left with absolutely no reason to give it a chance. Then I found myself alone and bored with nothing to do but watch TV and the only movie on Pay-Per-View I hadn't seen was `The Brave One'.

I will say this first and foremost; both Foster and Howard have never, and I mean NEVER, impressed me more than in this film. They are the beating heart here, the reason upon all reasons to give this movie a chance. Especially Foster, but I'll get to her in a minute. Howard really sunk into his role and pulled up every ounce of his characters vulnerability. I remember back in 2005 when Howard starred in `Crash' and `Hustle & Flow' and everyone was singing his praises as the next big thing. I remember so well because I didn't get it. His performance in `Crash' was choppy and uneven, a little forced even and his performance in `Hustle & Flow' was decent but to me it ended up being 70% hype and 30% delivery. Here I actually saw what everyone had been claiming to see for so long. Here I finally saw him shine.

`The Brave One' tells the tragic story of Erica Bain, a middle-aged woman about to be married to the man of her dreams when she and her fiancé are brutally attacked and their dream is shattered. Her fiancé dies as a result of the attack and she is critically injured. Upon recovery she realizes that she is no longer the person she once was. She is trapped in this shell of fear and pain that engulfs all that she does, every decision she makes and ultimately shapes the person she will soon become. Her first step was buying a gun, a gun she initially purchased to protect herself from the very people she now feared so much but that gun soon led her down a path she didn't know was going to be presented to her.

Jodie Foster has been a critically praised actress for years now. She's won two Academy Awards for her performances in `The Accused' and `The Silence of the Lambs'. She's been considered one of our greatest actresses for quite some time but it wasn't until I saw this film that I understood why. I actually thought that Foster was overrated. She utterly blew me away here. This is by far her finest performance and to me is one of the best performances of this year, period. Her fragility, her vulnerability but most importantly her strength help elevate this character so much. There's a scene where she returns to work for the first time after the attack and she's struggling to talk, struggling to put herself out there and then all of a sudden a clicks. Her voice deepens, her eyes squint, her face tightens and in those few moments I was spellbound by her brilliance. She was captivating.

`The Brave One' is not the best film out there. It suffers from some clichés and a lack of originality but it has two very strong performances in its corner to help it survive. Despite its flaws it never falls apart or loses our interest. Foster commands every scene she embodies and carries this film straight on through to its closing. Put aside the fact that you've seen this plot unravel before and embrace the electric performances that embody the soul of this film.

A powerful and Oscar worthy performance by Jodie Foster is unfortunately overlooked because far too many associated this film with Charles Bronson's classic Death Wish.

While there are definitely similar themes in both films and strong performance are given by both leads, this film is far more cerebral with its approach than Bronson's film. We feel Foster's pain more via her bravura performance and especially since as a radio DJ she has the unique opportunity to air her thoughts on the subject at hand, vigilantism, and hear how others think of her actions (without realizing they are actually speaking to the vigilante herself). This puts a powerful psychological spin on the story often lacking in other similarly themed films.

I also found the title intriguing as it may be asking a question more than defining a character here. Foster's Erica Bane, clever choice in last name which means burden or cause of ruin, is conflicted over whether her actions are praise-worthy or even brave as both topics come up on her radio talk show. Her reaction is bewilderment to think others think she is brave when she believes she is acting out of fear, and disgust for those that think she is "doing the city a favor" somehow or for finding her behavior easy.

She does her actions as a compulsion to rectify a wrong, to vent, and, yes, get revenge. She does not believe she is "helping" the city and is angry at that perception and with herself for this obsession that is now invading every part of her being. These criminals who hurt her have taken more than her finance, they have taken her peace of mind and a chunk of her life and she is angry that many don't understand this. She feels very misunderstood by most except for a detective, excellently portrayed by Terrance Howard, who is on to her, but very sympathetic as he is something of a tortured soul himself.

The film explores just who is brave here. Is it Bane for facing her anger, for finding a manner in which to vent, for seeking resolution, for simply surviving her harrowing encounter, or is it the power that a gun gives one. It's easy to be brave with a gun in your hand is an underlying message in this story as it was in a famous novel I just finished teaching my students this week. Atticus Finch said in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to his son Jem who watched an old woman die facing a battle most could not or would not face themselves and said, "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand." Courage isn't measured by how many bullets one has, but by how one faces a struggle in which one can't win.

Foster's Bane seem to feel great anger at herself for the control that she has allowed some criminals to have over her life and for the power she was finding in a gun. Isn't this why some carry a gun? For power? For control? For their notion on what justice is or ought to be?

Who is the brave one?

Sadly, it isn't the writer or director who choose to take an emotionally charged and intelligently developed story and go down a trite, contrived, and completely unrealistic resolution to a story as provocative as this one started out as and could have and should have ended as such. Those who like their stories to end with a neat bow will be pleased, but others who prefer realism and honesty in films will resent the cheap cowardly ending this film contains and that is my only reason for this film getting four stars instead of five and perhaps why it got snubbed at the Oscars even though Foster's performance and Terrance Howard as the detective keeping tabs on her are completely flawless even with the silly ending they are forced to act out with a straight face.

Going into a Jodie Foster film is like visiting an old friend. You typically only see her every few years or so, but you know when the time comes what an awesome experience it will be. Flightplan and Panic Room were enjoyable, lightweight thrillers, but this one is my favorite Foster film since The Silence of the Lambs because of its more dark and serious tones. Even Jodie herself admitted that this was one of her best in years. It was actually only one of two films I saw the entire 2007 year. Jodie has become an actress I have developed a great deal of respect and admiration for and so I trust what she chooses. I have never been disappointed. The film may have some minor flaws, but it's a 5-star performance all the way as to be expected. Jodie received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress this year and was also awarded the Sherry Lansing award for being one of the most powerful women in entertainment. Another worthy film to add into your Jodie collection. And even though it's not one of her favorite works, I always like to recommend The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane to catch a glimpse at a very talented young actress who would go on to greater heights in her very long career.

This movie for me is so real. I don't know how the writer and Jodie Foster did it, but somehow they wrote and acted out so realistically the very real feeling, fears, and thoughts so many of us have who have been violently attacked. I am amazed that they got so much of what really happens in the heart and mind of someone who doesn't physically die from an attack like this. I would have thought it impossible to write or act something like this so realistically without personally going through it in real life. So I wonder if maybe they did at some point in their lives because the writers and Jodie Foster did an AMAZING job. I wish I could personally thank the writer and Jodie Foster for doing this "movie" which is actually more of a DOCUMENTARY from my view. Thank you for helping others who see the movie, understand us better and for us(the ones who have been attacked like this and..."survived??"..) thank you for helping us understand ourselves more... or I guess for helping us feel that someone really does understand and really does "get it". I hope it helps the people who knew us before, understand why we can't just put something like this behind us and leave it in the past and understand how it kills the person we were and are now a completely different person and that we will never be the person we once were. I hope it helps the people who knew us before to understand that a person can be killed even if they are still physically alive, dead but still breathing. The person I used to be is dead. It's unrealistic and unfair for people that knew us before to expect us to "put it behind us and leave it in the past" and to expect us to come around and get back to being the person we used to be. That person is as dead and gone as I would be if I had been physically killed.

Thank you writers and thank you Jodie for understanding, or at least making some of us, finally at least FEEL understood. This movie was and still is so very therapeutic to me somehow. Somehow I don't feel so alone and cold or dead inside.

The Brave One was mentioned in my church during a solemn evening of prayer (on September 11) as a movie that depicts how "out of control" society becomes when we take matters into our own hands. I still wanted to see the movie and went with an open mind. This is a very thought provoking movie and touches on really important issues about what happens when we take the law into our own hands. The real questions in this movie, for me, focus around when is the character's killing of others self-defense and when does it begin to press into less heroic territory. I had to ask, "Why IS she 'The Brave One'. Does killing others (for any reason) really make our character "brave?" This is, regardless of what angle you view it from, one very powerful movie that speaks very clearly about what is going on in American society from a very contemporary point of view.

Erica Bain, after being horribly attacked with her fiance, left for dead, and regaining her senses three weeks later in a hospital to find her fiance is dead, faces the real dread of being able to go out her door and walk on the street alone. Terror leads her to purchase a gun and once it is purchased, she almost immediately is thrown into a situation where she is required to defend herself or die. She choses to kill. Oddly enough, she is soon thrown into another situation with the same result. And here, the movie takes the turn that -- if you have any ethics, morals, values or concern for life -- makes you really start paying attention and causes you to quesiton the motives of this victim turned hero. What happens next is likely more a psychological split in Erica Bain's personality -- she goes beyond self defense and makes decisions that, while they feel and look morally right, in your heart you know are wrong. Unlike Death Wish, to which this movie is compared, Erica Bain (Jodi Foster) does not immediately go out to seek revenge. Her's is more a process of self-preservation turned awry. At the end of my viewing of this film in the theater, it seemed nearly every one applauded the outcome. I didn't. I had such mixed emotions about what had happened that in my heart and head, I'm still trying to sort out if it was right or wrong. As movies go, this one is so well acted, you become a very real part of the painful emotional process the characters feel and experience not only in Erica Bain, but also in Det. Sean Mercer. The acting is really what makes this film work.

Its not a terrible movie but it's nothing to tell your friends about. Its full of cliches as just about any person who's seen the trailers will expect. Terrence Howard, who I consider a very talented actor, doesn't pull off the cop character all that well. His character as well most of the story line is unbelievable and inconsistent. Jodi Foster is okay.

I wanted to see this movie because, it was only 2 bucks and I like the whole vigilante idea. There problem is there were too many themes going on in this movie with no one in particular standing out or appearing original. Still some of the revenge scenes were kinda fun...

A note about the Amazon service.

Downloading was a cinch but the download manager you install seems to take up a lot of memory. The file was huge, but this is probably due to a high frame rate or something. Color looks good too. The resolution is horrendous though. I watched it on my computer screen about 5 feet away and you can see the image divided into tiny little digital blocks. This becomes really apparent when looking at diagonal lines or curves but where its the absolute worse is if there is any sort of text on the screen. It looks pixel-like and is virtually unreadable. They really need to fix that.

***1/2

Call it the Sword of Damocles Syndrome of filmmaking, but anytime characters seem just a little too happy at the beginning of a movie we know that some unspeakable catastrophe is just waiting to befall them.

In the case of Erica Bain and David Kirmani, that event is catastrophic indeed. Erica and David are a deliriously contented couple eagerly making plans for their upcoming marriage. One night, while walking their dog in Central Park, the two are attacked by a gang of hooligans who kill David and leave Erica beaten, battered and clinging to life in a weeks-long coma. When she wakes up, Erica has trouble coming to terms with the terror brought on by what has happened to her and buys herself an illegal firearm, initially as a means of protecting herself from any future assault. Quickly, however, she finds another use for the weapon, namely to go roaming around town eliminating any threatening malefactors unfortunate enough to wander across her path.

It's impossible to discuss "The Brave One" without making at least a passing reference to 1974`s "Death Wish," the archetype for all those urban vigilante melodramas that became so popular in the 1970's and 1980's. Erica pretty much fits the mold of those earlier antihero figures (despite the one obvious difference that she is a woman), although the writers - Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor and Cynthia Mort - and director Neil Jordan bring an added psychological dimension to the character (it might be nothing more than pop psychology, for all we know, but at least it's something). The filmmakers work hard at trying to explore Erica's motives for what she's doing, even if one of the themes of the movie seems to be that there may not BE any real explanation for her actions. Erica is a woman suffering the ravages of not only the grief of losing her fiance, but the fear, paranoia and psychological dislocation that result from violent trauma. Erica - who hosts a radio talk show whose theme seems to be reflections on city living - keeps telling both us and her audience that she is no longer the same person she was before the incident and that she will never be that person again.

Like "Death Wish," "The Brave One" is clearly more of a dark urban fantasy than a work of stark documentary-style realism. The filmmakers never make the logistics of Erica's killing spree all that convincing, but neither do they descend to the level of cheap exploitative rabblerousing one might expect from such a premise. The climax is not entirely plausible given the nature of one of the characters, but at least it avoids the easy, pro-law-and-order cliché it appears at first glance to be on its way to embracing.

As Erica, Jodie Foster gets to play the Travis Bickle character this time around (though she is more righteous and considerably less unbalanced than her "Taxi Driver" predecessor), purging the city of bad guys and making the streets once again safe for decent, law-abiding citizens. Her gun-toting Angel of Vengeance character may be a bit of a stereotype at this point, but Foster imbues her with enough humanity and depth to make her interesting. The pain and torment Erica is feeling is often made palpable for the audience through Foster's multi-layered, emotionally complex performance. She gets strong support from Terrance Howard, who does stellar work as the compassionate homicide detective assigned to investigate the killings, as well as from Naveen Andrews ("Lost") and Mary Steenburgen in smaller but nevertheless crucial roles.

As a "study of violence," "The Brave One" pretty much leaves it up to the viewers to sift through and sort out their own complex feelings on the subject. The movie neither glorifies nor condemns, neither endorses nor berates Erica for her actions. It tries to understand her, but it doesn't feel called upon to judge her. The filmmakers may, indeed, be copping out by not putting forth a clear message on the topic, but this noncommittal approach actually makes the movie more thoughtful and authentic. Some may be enraged by the film, while others may be enthralled by it. But few will have no strong opinion on "The Brave One" one way or the other - and that's what makes movie watching ultimately worthwhile.