The Brave One

The Brave One (2007) is about a radio presenter in New York. Erica makes a programme about the sounds of the city. One night she and her fiancé are attacked in a park; he dies and she spends weeks in hospital. When she comes out she buys an illegal gun and starts answering the violence she meets in the street. The interesting element is the policeman. Detective Mercer is investigating the killings and gets to know her, and the relationship between them is the film's moral centre. It refuses a clear verdict at the end, which is what was argued about most. Neil Jordan directed. Jodie Foster plays Erica and Terrence Howard plays Mercer. The genre is familiar, the urban revenge films of the seventies and Death Wish in particular. The difference is that Jordan never makes the violence satisfying: after each incident her hands shake, and the film does not declare her a hero. Foster was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress. The New York material was shot on location, and the recordings in Erica's radio programme build the atmosphere of the city. It runs 122 minutes. Good for: revenge thrillers, Jodie Foster, and portraits of a city. Less good for: the film's moral position is unclear and many critics found the ending irresponsible. The violence and the attack are heavy. The pace is slow and the plot repeats itself.