Film

The Brave One

Kirsten Banks 01/10/2007

Rating: 3.5/5

Jodie Foster returns to the big screen as Erica Bain, a NYC radio DJ who is unexpectedly thrown into a world of horrific violence, revenge and redemption. Sound familiar? Well, despite the obvious similarities to Foster's previous films such as "Panic Room" and "Flightplan" and of course "Taxi Driver," Foster somehow still manages to make this role very much her own.

Avenging the murder of her finance, the audience follows Bain through her descent into gun-culture and street crime. Director Neil Jordon doesn't hold back, depicting the brutal violence and inhumanity of NYC's streets, the film is both shocking and absorbing, despite the occasional cliché in the script.

Overall this is a fast paced thriller, made more staggering by its relevance to modern day gang culture and Jordan's brilliant editing technique, cutting between scenes of Erica and her finance being very much alive to being on the brink of death. Foster's commitment to what is really a 2-D character is honourable and at times brilliant, but is again undermined by the sappy love story that ensues between her and detective Sean Mercer (Terrance Howard). The Brave One is by no means groundbreaking but if an intelligent and provocative thriller is what you are after then this certainly delivers.