The Movie
The story builds upon the classic styles of revenge and film noir genre pieces, but places a female in the traditionally male lead role, developing around the vigilante-style rampage upon which Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) embarks after her and her fiancé are brutally beaten in a New York City park. And while this spree is the driving action of the movie, the focus is really on her character, that of Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), and the relationship that develops between the two.
In essence, Bain initially purchases a gun simply as a means of protection, but after using it to kill a man in self-defense, she realizes that she derives an inner peace from this form of self-imposed justice. She then begins to not only enforce ‘justice’ when prompted by self-defense, but she seeks out situations in which her self-defense is eminent and eventually even hunts down people whom she knows to be criminals.
All the while, the viewer witnesses her character’s inner conflict, as she struggles with the paradox of committing acts that can be rationalized as just but that she knows are not truly moral. Her actions even instill an inner conflict in Mercer, who befriends Bain while struggling with his recent divorce. The two find solace in one another’s pure intentions, but Mercer becomes increasingly conflicted as he begins to realize that Bain is the vigilante for whom he has been searching.
Naturally, there is a final confrontation at the end of the film, and a somewhat satisfactory conclusion is reached. And while the final resolution is not entirely unpredictable, the film does an excellent job of keeping the viewer unsure of exactly how this resolution will be obtained. Moreover, the resolution (and, for that matter, the rest of the film) appropriately conveys the conflicted emotions of Bain and Mercer to the viewer while still providing a cathartic sense of closure.
As far as the characters are concerned, I am not a huge fan of Jodie Foster, but she plays the role well, expressing the various conflicting emotions to the audience in a way that is both believable and relatable. Even more so than Foster, though, Terrence Howard is a manifestation of internal strife (as is so often the case with his roles), his face, posture, and expression always conveying his character’s struggle with a mastery of human emotion. These are the types of characters with which Howard does so well, and this is yet another fine example of his ability to capture the true complexities of the human experience.
Finally, there is also an interesting use of flashbacks throughout the movie that certainly complements the current action well. A certain degree of parallelism is created with each flashback, allowing the flashbacks to both reveal aspects of the characters and maintain relevance with the current action.
Special Features
There are only two special features, an additional scenes feature and the making-of feature, ‘I Walk the City’. The additional scenes don’t contribute much to the story, as most of scenes were cut from the beginning of the movie and the information is implied in other parts of the film; however, the viewer will learn a little more about Mercer and his relationship with his ex-wife.
The making-of feature focuses a lot on the film as an original take on the revenge and film noir genres, which is interesting but doesn’t really add much to the story. A bit more relevant are the discussions of the characters and their development, including interviews about the characters of Bain and Mercer and an intriguing segment about the use of New York City and its role in the film.
Presentation
This is certainly the most basic DVD that could possibly be created. There is no moving video in any of the menus, there are no transitions between any of the menus, and the only menu with audio is the main menu. It is thoroughly disappointing.
Overall
Don’t let the simplicity of the DVD package fool you; The Brave One is certainly a film worth seeing. The action is intense and unpredictable enough to keep the viewer guessing (or at least hoping for a different course of events), and both Foster and Howard very respectably convey the internal contradictions of their characters. It won’t turn your world upside down, but The Brave One will make you question traditional morals while still satisfying your hunger for action, making it a movie I would certainly recommend.