The Brave One (2007)

“It’s actually quite common- the mind becomes so saturated with popular images that it becomes impossible- especially with people under twenty- to remember anything unique.” – Sketch Artist

Number of Times Seen – Twice (10 Dec 2007 and 7 Apr 2019)

Brief Synopsis – After a radio host is attacked in New York City, she decides to become a vigilante as she tries to help others from being traumatized like she was.

My Take on it – This is a film that I saw not long after it came out and didn’t recall too much about what happens through the course of the film.

Jodie Foster is great in the lead role here and once again shows that she can still play very complex and difficult characters like this one.

The story is told in a very realistic way which helps give the viewer the ability to care much more about the characters and what will happen to them along the way depending on the various paths they choose to lead.

Terrance Howard is also great here in the role of a detective who unbeknownst to him is trying to solve the crime committed against Foster while at the same time trying to solve the various new murders being committed anonymously around the city by her character also.

This film gives us a very unique and fresh perspective on the idea of vigilante justice since it shows that things in the world we live in are no longer just black or white due to the fact that there are much more gray areas that we encounter along the way.

Bottom Line – Foster is great in this film and shows that she can play such complex characters like this one. The story itself is done is a pretty realistic fashion which allows us to care about the characters and the paths that they choose to take. Howard is equally as good as her in the role of a detective unwittingly trying to solve both the crime that was perpetrated against her and the crimes that she is anonymously committing throughout the city late at night. The film gives an interesting perspective to the way that crime is seen since it is no longer such a clear black and white since there are many grey areas along the way. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Before Jodie Foster was attached to this movie, the character of Erica was supposed to be a newspaper reporter. Foster changed her job to radio host because she thought that her being a print journalist didn’t “didn’t set a mood for the film and it wasn’t as compelling in terms of the narrative” as being a radio reporter was. Foster also wanted to specify that Erica worked for the real news organization National Public Radio, but NPR declined to allow their name to be used in the movie because of the vigilante aspects of the plot. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)