The Brave One

What happens when we become a victim? Do we reticently sit back, relax, and hope that the justice system works its magic or do we opt for our own style of impromptu vigilantism to ensure that the perpetrators don’t walk away unscathed? How far can someone be pushed before they simply have to externalize their frustrations? All I can say is that if Hammurabi were around today, he would have an unflinching attachment to Neil Jordan’s shattering new film “The Brave One” in which Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) decides, like Peter Finch in “Network,” that she’s mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

Everything begins when her fiancé is beaten to death in Central Park and she is put into a coma for three weeks following the same vicious attack. Upon awakening, her emotional wellbeing is in shambles and the innocent life she once knew has disintegrated right before her eyes. All it takes is one dispiriting trip to the police station for her to realize that any sense of closure will have to come from her own malevolent effort to dispense punishment.

Her startling conversion from inconspicuous talk radio personality to ferociously untamed feminist defender with uninhibited animalistic instincts is truly a sight to see regardless of your moral philosophy. The further she descends into the moral abyss, the more we become mesmerized by her dicey decision making and begin to empathize with the debatable need for personal artillery in a post 9/11 world.

But like all thrillers of this sort, persistent interaction with various police officials tends to act as a nuisance to the believability aspect of all this, so Erica’s situation proves to be no different. In this case, Det. Sam Mercer (Terrence Howard) is hot on the trail of Erica’s violent escalation and develops an interesting relationship with her as the film evolves. The scenes between Foster and Howard are skillfully done, because their characters know the game and every word exchanged is carefully chosen to avoid revealing too much information. They have a mutual respect for one another and their affections often cloud their ability to make rational judgments.

As for the film itself, the reluctance of the writers to make Erica accountable for these homicidal rampages continues to bug me. What kind of message are they sending? I can entertain the idea of someone being pushed over the edge, but wouldn’t it be more captivating to have her come face to face with what she has done? Will she ever stop? All of these questions have complicated answers that require a certain level of ethical veracity to decipher, so I’m assuming that’s why the film doesn’t delve too heavily into them.

Even while Jodie Foster delivers one of the gutsiest and most emotionally stimulating performances of her career, Jordan’s film clearly decides to take the easy way out. He sidesteps the real issues in favor of clear cut plot resolution, which I don’t think works in his favor. When the audience deserves a thought-provoking conclusion, he gives them one that detracts from the film’s ever twisting moral compass and leaves viewers with a somewhat sour taste. But then again, isn’t that how Erica felt?

- *** out of 4