Review of "The Brave One"

"she seems very much herself here, or rather, a lot like we have imagined her."

If that pic you posted of her is indicative of her wardrobe in the film, that *is* how she dresses in her private life. Have seen enough papparazi pics of her and her family to vouch for that! She also looks a lot younger than 44 in this film.

I get the feeling that Neil Jordan as director (The Crying Game) may have something to do with her decided androgynous style. He's open to gender bending after all.

Thoughtful review scribegrrrl. I think it's persuaded me to see it, even though I'm not much of a fan of violent movies.

Did you know that the original actress cast for this role was Nicole Kidman? She also took over Nicole's role in Panic Room :)

Jodie is sometimes critiqued for what seem like efforts to appear feminine in public

Oh, God. Why? She can do what she likes. It seems a bit patronising to me to assume we can know why she chooses to dress a particular way at a particular time - eg to assume that she's trying to look straight. Maybe she just likes wearing glam clothes to glam events. I have a (very heterosexual) female friend who dresses tomboyishly day-to-day; but when it comes to partying or a special event, she cracks out the dress and heels - not in order to conform, but because she wants to. It is possible to have a femme and a butch side... or to be a "futch", as Sarah so memorably put it in She Said What?

On a different point - I've never totally got the Jodie Foster thing (maybe partly because I haven't seen many of her movies)... but I saw her on Jon Stewart the other night and hmm, she was pretty hot. Smart, articulate and hot. I may have been won over. :)

My wife and I just returned from the movie theater, and we both really enjoyed the film.  It really is Jodie's best performance in years and the film itself is better than Flightplan or Panic Room.  For those that think that this film is Flightplan meets Panic Room you are highly mistaken.  Jodie owns the character and she really does have fantastic chemistry with Terrance Howard.  He sees someone who's hurting and he knows that he can't do anything to help her outside of breaking the law himself.  He has his own battles in the film and once you think they will cross paths you are surpised.

The cinematography was perfect for the film too and I give Jodie props for allowing them to expose her "flaws".  In today's Hollywood where actresses are hiding every wrinkle and shooting their ass in their lips, Jodie looks edgy, her age, but absolutely beautiful.  She definitely has a natural beauty even though she can scare the crap out of you.  The script had a little mishaps but Foster and Howard made me forget about it. 

Scribe excellent review.  I said I would post after I saw it.  I am reccommending the movie to everyone.

In an interview by Lisa Kennedy the Denver Post Film Critic, and in response to the following statement by Ms. Kennedy "There's a fair amount of vulnerability built into acting"

Jodie said "It's a weird job. It's hard to explain how alone you are......" "It's funny. I crave it. I need to have something that doesn't belong to my mom, doesn't belong to my kids, doesn't belong to my partner. It just belongs to me. They can't take it from me. They can't really understand it. But it's also lonely. It makes you do weird things."

Interesting comment in and of itself, but also in that she tacitly acknowledges having a partner.

"It's funny. I crave it. I need to have something that doesn't belong to my mom, doesn't belong to my kids (she has two sons, a 9-year-old and 6-year-old), doesn't belong to my partner. It just belongs to me. They can't take it from me. They can't really understand it. But it's also lonely. It makes you do weird things."

Above is her answer to a question about acting in Denver Post today. Was she misquoted or does it mean she's acknowledging that she has a partner? One teensy weensy step...

Hmmmm.......

I just saw The Brave One tonight and really liked it. I was excited to see a new Jodie movie, but I was a bit worried that I would mostly just like her and not enjoy the film itself, since I usually don't go for violent movies .. but no worries.

In addition to the fact that Jodie's voice is as wonderful as ever (an NPR correspondent interviewing her about the film told Jodie she could have a career in public radio!) and the fact that she looks hot in her perfectly cut leather jacket (and those are both big 'in addition to's) the movie has a lot of strong and nuanced themes: revenge, fear, loss, right vs. wrong, reality, self-identity .. Some of these are explored by the violence, but others are explored in Jodie's character's monologues on the radio, and her conversations with Terrence Howard's character). Make no mistake - this is a movie about violence, but this is not a simple movie about violence.

On a more technical note: I've never seen a movie that pays this much attention to sound. Not just in terms of acoustics (you really feel like you hear every piece of every sound - as though you're there with the characters), but what sound represents: it's as though what you hear is what's most real, especially to Jodie's character (her musings about New York, the song she she and her boyfriend used to dance to, the sound when she fires her gun).

Overall an extremely well put together, superbly acted, complex movie. I'll definitely see it again. (No not just for the leather jacket!)

Most critics pan this film because of its inability to refute vigilantism. But a comment I read by the critic Nick Rogers:

OK, Jodie, if you're making comparisons to "Taxi Driver": One's a masterpiece about the penchant for emotionally apocalyptic violence. The other is manipulative junk tapping into its star's success at kicking butt. Guess which of those is "The Brave One."

--prompted my memory.

Taxi Driver was the film that led John Hinckley Jr to fall in love with Jodie Foster, and pursue contact with her at Yale. He even wrote her that he was killing President Reagan to prove he was worthy of her.

-This historical and personal context really makes me want to see how Foster portrays the transformation of a happy woman into a gun-wielding killer.

Have long been a fan of Jodie Foster, ever since her Coppertone baby days... yes, I am older than Jodie.  What interested me about this film was that no comment was made about what her character was doing or why.  The body count was pretty high (she kills 8 men over the course of the film).  Yes, they are all bad guys, one could ostensibly make the argument that they "deserved" to die, but, does this justify being a vigilante?  I love Jodie, but should we be celebrating vigilantism, even by a female?

Also, having lived in New York for a number of years as a single woman, I always felt safe there.  The subway scene in the film was totally unrealistic.  As crowded as the subways always are, that just wouldn't happen in real life.

I would recommend the film for purely entertainment purposes, but don't go expecting to learn anything.  The lesson isn't there.

Enjoyed the movie a lot. It's far from perfect, but whatever plot contrivances there are, it's no biggie to overlook them. Definitely a must. I think I, too will be seeing again. I have the nagging feeling that I might get more out of it if I were to watch it again.

And her partner comment - it's interesting. Jodie doesn't let anything slip. However, I saw her give this same soundbite in one of her tv appearances(I forget which one) without the mention of partner. I find it interesting that she says it in an interview that's to appear at the tail end of her publicity for the movie. Presumably so no one will question her further.

"I find it interesting that she says it in an interview that's to appear at the tail end of her publicity for the movie. Presumably so no one will question her further."

She is no fool.

And I really want to see this movie.

Yeah, she really is not the type to call a press conference or issue a statement. It'll just happen gradually and naturally one day. lol

As far as I know she always brings Cydney along to premieres, she just doesn't walk the red carpet with her. Actually the whole Bernard-Foster clan went to a kid's movie premiere a few months back and for the first time the major photo distribution sites actually identified Cydney by name. And in a number of print interviews, they mentioned Cydney by name again as Jodie's rumored partner. The press just keeps getting more bold about this.

Im really looking forward to seeing this movie when it comes out. Everything about it seems to be telling me I'm gona love it.

As for the comment about her "partner" I'm not sure if we're not seeing Jodie dance the dance with the Media. Every now and then she keeps hinting at things, without being obvious about it. Every now and then, the Media seems to push a little in mentioning Cydney's name or at least a suggestion of a mention about "her". I think each will play this game for a little longer until before you know it or have spotted it... Jodie will confirm what the world has known for like ever.. that she's gay :-)

I really liked this film, however, the ending was not believable to me. Despite that, I still liked the movie. And Jodie Foster has aged like fine wine. Those gorgeous blue eyes are mesmerizing.

Meow!

The strange this is, I wouldn't have said this at the time I was watching it last night. It takes some reflection and I never go see movies twice, but I will with Brave One.  The plot holes or contrivances that people have discussed are there, but if you think about them later, they are absolutely the best way to set up the emotional wrenching this woman is going through in the allotted time for this film.  That fact that, at least before the man in the parking lot, nothing she is doing is really planned out ahead of time. She's existing is some kind of fever of fear, helplessness, then revenge and after the convenience store incident, she notices her hands are not only not shaking, her whole old persona is gone.  There was a lot of laughter at the really funny lines from Mercer's partner, but the big shout outs came when Jodie fired her first shot. 

I call this a catharsis movie. It lets you rid your psyche of nasty, revengeful thoughts you might have when you hear about such senseless violence going on all around you.  Jodie Foster said in the one interview I saw her (The Daily Show) that this was an interesting area to delve into.  I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember her exact words. I don't think John Stewart liked how the movie ended. That's just a guess on my part.

 I loved the hell out of this movie and I hate violent movies. Most movies, when a gun is shot off I feel like I've been hit myself.  I was cheering every time she fired her 9mm.  A standard ending to this type of movie would have been the cop hating to have to do it, but taking her in and hoping a jury or a judge would give her some leniency.  I'll have to see it again to see why he had to be, ah, hurt a bit, but I loved the ending with her walking away being followed by you know who. 

I also yelled out "TV Series" in the theater. Ha!  No. Couldn't handle something like that every week.  I'm also glad Nicole Kidman didn't take this part.  Jodie Foster owns this one. I think she was much better than she was in Silence of the Lambs.

Oops. I might have written too much.  Last comment. I loved this move because of it's content. Jodie Foster is what brought that content home.

I'm thinking about going to see it again too, AfterDiane. After I left the theater, I didn't think it was that great, but after having some time to think it over, I have to say that the themes the movie explores certainly elevate the movie beyond, your typical revenge movie.

Well said, btw.

I think this film attempted to be a great film but fell short. And no, Jodie will definitely not be nominated for an Oscar for this. At times I felt it verging on noir then edging away from it. But it was mostly maudlin melodrama.

Being jumped in a park and having your fiance killed and then just a few months later being alone on the scene of a new murder is sooo stretching it--even for New York. But this is the justification for it to be perfectly understandable to shoot shitheads wherever they turn up.

Here's a real life story. A man killed the daughter of a friend of mine. Stabbed her and slit her throat. The mother, as a Christian forgave him and left his soul to God to judge.

This was honestly the best movie i have seen in a long time!

I don't know if it's because jodie looks so damn hot in this movie (complete with leather and weapons? yum!) or her incredibly sexy voice, but this movie rocked!

I saw this as a right-of-passage on my seventeenth birthday with a straight friend, and she loved it too. I only planned on watching this movie because of the incredibly sexy movie poster, but I ended up loving the plot line too as well as the asthetics.

And after the movie I was explaining to my friend just how sexy the movie poster was (can I get that as wallpaper for my room?) a very cute girl walks by, overhears me, and says "I agree". Best. movie. poster. ever.

All in all, I definately had a very happy birthday.

I saw this movie with my girlfriend after she pleaded with me to see it with her. She thinks Jodie Foster is totally hot, and I don't really have any opinions on her.

Unfortunately I found this movie really rather boring, although it did have an interesting take on the whole vigilante justice issue.