The Brave One (2007)

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writers (WGA):

Roderick Taylor (screenplay) &
Bruce A. Taylor (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 September 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

How many wrongs to make it right?

Plot:

A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Police | Gun | Assault | Hospital

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jodie Foster	...	Erica Bain
Terrence Howard	...	Detective Mercer
Nicky Katt	...	Detective Vitale
Naveen Andrews	...	David Kirmani
Mary Steenburgen	...	Carol
Ene Oloja	...	Josai
Luis Da Silva Jr.	...	Lee
Blaze Foster	...	Cash
Rafael Sardina	...	Reed
Jane Adams	...	Nicole
Gordon MacDonald	...	Murrow
Zoë Kravitz	...	Chloe
John Magaro	...	Ethan
Victor Colicchio	...	Cutler
Jermel Howard	...	Thug on Subway

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

122 min | Canada:119 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

UK:18 | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Ireland:16 | Norway:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | South Africa:16LV | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:R (certificate #43480) | Germany:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Malaysia:18PL | France:-12 | Spain:18 | Philippines:R-13 | Taiwan:R-18 | Japan:R-15 | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Broadway Stages, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Redemption Pictures

Trivia:

Not your typical product placement: In the scene where Mercer visits Erica's apartment, a container of Israeli-produced sea salt is visible showing the Hebrew-language side to the camera. The Hebrew words melekh-yam (sea salt) can be seen. This is a product not widely available in the US, only through speciality and kosher stores, so perhaps it was purchased by a set dresser near the Brooklyn studios.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time Erica goes to the Police Station and is asked to wait she is wearing a white T-Shirt under her hoody sweatshirt. When she walks out of the Police Station and into the Gun Shop, the white T-Shirt is now a red T-Shirt.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Erica: [voiceover, doing her radio show] I'm Erica Bain. And as *you* know, I walk the city. I bitch and moan about it. I walk and watch and listen, a witness to all the beauty and ugliness that is disappearing from our beloved city. Last week took me to the gray depths of the East River where Dmitri Panchenko swims his morning laps...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: The Brave One (#14.22)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Burning On Both Ends

Produced with the highest levels of competency and film-making craft...but do we really need to see this story again?

Police detective in New York City is befriended by a female talk-radio hostess who makes acerbic/introspective comments on daily life in the Big Apple; her past as the near-fatal victim of murderous street thugs connects in his mind with the current rash of celebrated vigilante killings...and if his hunch is right, will he be able to arrest someone he has come to admire? Despite a dreamy, somewhat disconnected narrative which gives the proceedings almost a surreal feeling, this violent urban thriller is absorbing and intriguing, if familiar. Jodie Foster is very capable in the role of this intense, mourning and benumbed woman who isn't quite sure what her feelings are regarding the low-life she kills, yet the character as conceived is tough for us to reach. Speaking in a low monotone (and grieving for her slain boyfriend in much the same way), Foster doesn't shake the audience up--and she doesn't propel the film forward. She is highly sympathetic and human, yet she seems to drift through this hellish jungle with a halo and a gun. Director Neil Jordan certainly stacks the deck against her, which should be enough to get viewers rooting for this modern-day "Ms. 45", however the picture remains aloof, detached. As the detective, Terrence Howard does well with an old-hat role, and the actors playing the punks are all quite convincing. There's a plot thread involving an i-phone recording of the beating Foster and her fiancée suffer which doesn't come off (it seems dropped in), and another scene with Foster saving a young woman from a pimp that feels sketchy. Still, the movie looks classy, has skillful editing and a satisfying wrap-up, and makes fine usage of Sarah McLachlan's song "Answer". **1/2 from ****