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by Jeff Eason |
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Foster and Howard Elevate The
Brave One from Typical Revenge Film
In last week’s review of the fantastic 3:10
to Yuma, I mentioned the fact that Hollywood is not making
westerns as much as they were in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Well, the truth of the matter is that the movie-making
industry has replaced the traditional western with what
I call the modern western or revenge film. The formula
for the modern western is that someone who represents
good is terribly wronged by the forces of evil. Once that
is established, all manner of violence can rain down on
the bad guys and the audience will eat it up.
Jodie
Foster stars as radio commentator turned vigilante
in the new action film The Brave One.
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Nighthawks
at the diner. Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard
star in the new action film The Brave One.
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Although the revenge film is not my favorite film genre,
I have to acknowledge that aspects of this formula are
part and parcel of a number of my favorite action films
such as Robocop and Transporter 2.
That said, the latest revenge flick to roll down the pike,
The Brave One starring Jodie Foster, is a clever psychological
thriller that engages the audience until it finally devolves
into a morally corrupt tale of simple revenge.
Foster plays Erica Bain, a New York radio commentator
who searches the city with her microphone for the heartbeat
of Metropolis. When she is beaten and her fiancé
David (Naveen Andrews from TV’s Lost) killed in a
brutal attack in a tunnel in Central Park, she is transformed
from a confident city dweller into a fearful echo of her
former self. That fear eats away at Erica until finally
she decides to buy a 7mm handgun for protection. Within
a few weeks she has killed an armed robber in a convenience
store, two muggers on the subway, and a pervert holding
a teenage prostitute hostage.
All of this vigilante action on the streets of the “safest
big city in the world” earns the attention of a cop
named Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard). He and his partner
Detective Vitale (Nicky Katt) can tell by shell casings
that a single shooter has gunned down all of the bad guys.
Meanwhile Erica is gaining enough fortitude to hunt the
three thugs who murdered her boyfriend and sent her into
the killing spree in the first place.
The basic plot of The Brave One is typical revenge film
fare. What makes it head and shoulders above most such
movies is the psychological dimension of Bain’s character.
She doesn’t just snap and become a killer. We watch
as the fear overtakes her personality and revenge becomes
her only path to salvation. In that regard, this film
might have failed miserably in the hands of a lesser actress.
But Foster creates just the right mix of big blue-eyed
sadness, primal fear and self-righteous anger to enlist
the audience’s empathy.
Foster is matched by the terrific work of Howard as Det.
Mercer. Previously seen in the films Idlewild, Four Brothers
and Hustle & Flow, Howard presents Mercer as a cop
who knows the difference between good and bad but also
knows that the vigilante killings fall somewhere in the
middle. He brings his own demons and back-story to Bain’s
tale of revenge and they help to keep the film from becoming
two-dimensional.
As Det. Vitale, Katt (Grindhouse, Sin City, TV’s
Boston Public) brings a much-needed dose of comic relief
to this gritty movie. As Bain’s radio boss Carol,
Mary Steenburgen is a bit of an enigma and derails the
story somewhat. Her presence raises questions such as
how can a radio commentator who talks for five minutes
a week make enough money to live in New York? And why
would Carol allow Erica to talk live on the radio after
her traumatic experience instead of taping the segment?
Visually, The Brave One is a virtual trip to New York
City. Filmed mostly on location, the scenes of the NY
neighborhoods, both bad and good, give the viewer the
feeling of being on the street and soaking in the sights,
subways and strangers that make that place so unique.
While The Brave One, on a psychological level, is far
better than most revenge films, the ending fails to live
up to the rest of the movie. After establishing Mercer
as the conscience of the film, he does two or three things
at the end that are clearly out of character. In a nod
to Death Wish, the grandfather of all such modern revenge
flicks, the ending of The Brave One is a little open-ended,
as if the filmmakers wanted to give themselves the possibility
of a sequel. That’s too bad because for the better
part of two hours, Foster and Howard were acting as if
they were in a much better movie.
The Brave One is rated R for strong violence, language
and some sexuality. It is currently playing at Regal Cinemas
in Boone. |
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