Customer Reviews
Jodie does it again 
2008-09-29
Jodie has made a Aone DVD. It is different and very intriging. She does an excellent job in all her portrayals.
Angel Of Death... 2008-09-27
Jodie Foster (Taxi Driver, Silence Of The Lambs, Panic Room, Flight Plan) has really hit her stride w/ these thrillers. In THE BRAVE ONE, she takes on the role of radio-personality turned vigilante w/ ease and cool lethality. At first, I thought this was going to be some sort of DEATH WISH re-tread. Nope, TBO is a story about the ultimate cost of revenge. The toll that vengeance takes on the avenger in the form of a new inner deadness and freezing of one's own soul. While the scumbags who get their due are certainly deserving of their fate, Erica must go deeper into the abyss w/ each execution. The price of becoming an angel of death is extremely high. Ms. Foster brings authenticity and anguish to the part of Erica Bain. I found myself pitying her, while at the same time hoping she would get the satisfaction that she was willing to kill and die for. As a Jodie fan for some 30+ years (I fell in love w/ her character in The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane back in the 70s), I consider this to be one of her best performances. Terrence Howard is also great as the cop who finds himself torn between his sense of morality / duty, and his growing understanding of / respect for the motive that drives this street-avenger. I must admit that I did not see the finalé coming! I was surprised by it. I was even more surprised by my own gleeful reaction to it! Watch it and you'll see what I mean...
A Lady's Death Wish 
2008-09-10
I thought this was a terrific Jodie Foster movie. Summarizing: Jodie and her boyfriend are beaten to a pulp in Central Park. The boyfriend dies and Jodie becomes a vigilante as she searches for the perps to even the score. Terrence Young is a detective that's simpathetic to her cause.
This movie was well written and doesn't contain any nonsense scenes of gore, torture, or rape. Jodie chose this role very well.
How people live with fear 2008-09-10
Radio announcer Erica Bain (Foster) had the perfect life. Her show's going great. She loves her fiancee, Dr. David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews). Then they are attacked one night in the park while walking their dog by a vicious band of street punks. Erica awakens from a coma after three weeks to discover that David's family had to let him go while she was unconscious.
She's afraid to walk the streets anymore, even the most innocent passerby makes her wary. So, she buys an illegal gun. Next, she takes up smoking.
A friend tells her she's got to figure out a way to life. That's the hard thing. The story tells how fear changes a person and makes them wonder if they will ever be the same again.
Erica starts out innocently enough, defending herself against a robber who killed his wife. Next, it's a pair of punks in the subway who rob an innocent person and then pull a gun on her.
Almost every person who's been hurt has wanted to seek vengeance in some way. The dream is a lot harsher than the reality. "The Brave One" is painful to watch, but it's worthwhile. Jodie Foster's given the best performance of a life full of strong performances. Also, kudos to Terence Howard as Detective Mercer.
Rebecca Kyle, September 2008
A little confused by the ending 
2008-09-10
I liked most of this movie. A variation on the Charles Bronson movies of the 70's and 80's for revenge killings after a family member is killed. Jodi Foster does a great job as usual portraying a victim that fights back. And she is also vunerable as she exposes herself to danger in order to avenge those who can't or won't.
But the ending left me wondering a few things. As we know from television New York city has CSI investigators. If evidence is collected from a triple murder as it might very well be, how did the last victim holding the murder weapon put a bullet into the back of his own head while laying on the floor? Also, he should have GSR (gun shot residue) on his hand from pulling the trigger but he never fired the gun? Since Jodi Foster handled the clip as well as the gun, it would seem logical her prints might be on the gun parts not rubbed clean by the detective covering for her.
Just a few loose ends I think a good CSI would find. What prompted the detective to go to the scene of the crime since he had no real reason to go find that suspect again without new evidence.
Otherwise minus these short comings it is a pretty good film overall.
Get real. Read this please. 2008-09-02
"Why don‘t they stop me?" Erica Bain wonders. Bain, a popular N.Y radio host, watched her fiancé die and nearly lost her own life to a vicious, random attack. Now she discovers a stranger within herself, an armed wanderer in the urban night, out for vengeance and at war with her own soul. Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, as Erica, joins Oscar nominee Terrence Howard, as a determined cop hot on her trail. Erica?s future is uncertain, but one thing is not: THE BRAVE ONE is a high- tension thriller that packs a visceral and emotional punch.
Satisfied 2008-09-01
I was very pleased with the movie....it came packaged like new as advertised. Also I received it in just a few days...good service
Tense and complicated story of a female vigilante 2008-09-01
I didn't expect much from this 2007 film. But Jodie Forster was in it and she's such a fine actor that I love seeing her work on the screen. She's cast as a vigilante who takes out revenge on all the bad guys who come her way. The acting is so good, however, that I soon forgot that this was a formula film. Jodie Forster seems to actually live the psychological terror and helplessness that befall her after her fiance is brutally beaten to death as they walk their dog in Central Park. Yes, the bad guys are all stereotyped. I expected that. And it reflects a scary New York of random violence that existed about 15 years ago and which is different today. But it didn't take me long to relate to her and, to the director's credit, he kept the scenes short so they didn't weigh down the film. Terrance Howard, cast as an understanding cop, is someone I admire too. As the bad guys start dropping he soon becomes suspicious and his relationship with Forster is tense and complicated.
Even though I knew the general outline of the plot, I was never bored for a minute. This is not a great film, but has great acting and a fast paced plot. I certainly recommend it.
"The Bad One" 2008-09-01
The premise of this movie is a good one: Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), a public radio essayist, and her fiance, David (Naveen Andrews), are violently attacked in Central Park one night by a couple of hoodlums. David doesn't survive, and Erica remains unconscious for weeks before finally reemerging in a new world where she finds herself completely alone. Afraid but determined never to be a victim again, Erica purchases a firearm illegally, and soon finds herself threatened by a man in a convenience store. Erica uses her gun to protect herself, and finds that the only way she can cope with her new life is to go around New York City and take out a bunch of bad guys vigilante-style.
Foster delivers an excellent performance in this movie, as usual, and Terrence Howard is great in his role of a police detective. Unfortunately, though, there are so many things about this movie that are completely far-fetched, from the outrageous number of dangerous situations Erica finds herself in day after day to the behavior of Howard's character when he finds out exactly what Erica's been up to. It's very disappointing, because "The Brave One" has all the makings of a really great movie, but the script itself is really stupid in places, and that ruined the whole film for me. The best thing about the movie is that Erica's dog ends up okay at the end, and that's about all I really cared about by the time the film was over. What a waste of two hours of my life (and of Jodie Foster's talent)!
Slightly hokey, but overall well-worth a watch 2008-08-31
To my surprise, I found myself quite entranced by this mystery movie of a traumatized woman who takes justice into her own hands.
I know there are plenty of vigilante movies out there, and to be perfectly honest this one doesn't do much that is original. We get the obligatory philosophical debate of the morality of killing thugs who deserve it, minus that crucial law step.
But mostly, this is a movie that impresses it self most by some impressive performances from its leads and the fact that, despite whatever our opinion is on the vigilante syndrome, there is something pretty darn neat about watching jerks get shot in the face by Jodie Foster. Indeed, I pretty much ignored the good/evil debate and happily waited for Ms. Foster to take out another hoodlum.
Plus, I thought the filming was just plain pretty--in a dark and sinister kind of way.
If guns and good acting is all it takes to keep you happy, this will be worth your viewing.
