It seems to me that Jodie Foster has been playing pretty much the same role throughout the last ten years or so. Usually either a woman with something to prove or a woman trying to protect her children. Either way there hasn't been much variation, but it doesn't hurt The Brave One much. As Erica Bain, a NYC radio show host whose fiancée is brutally beaten to death, she takes matters into her own hands to exact revenge.

Two things keep this movie from being a standard take on the revenge flick, Terrence Howard and an ending that completely throws you for a loop. First, Howard plays Detective Mercer, a straight by the books detective who befriends Bain and is working on catching the vigilante, unknowingly helping her to carry out her nightly vigilante outings by providing information. This man is going to be a huge star, after Crash and Hustle and Flow helped to get him in the mainstream, this year's The Hunting Party and The Brave One should help to cement him into the minds of the public. His portrayal of Mercer as a caring cop who still believes in the letter of the law is so believable that the twist really comes out of left field and hits you upside the head like a bag of rocks. The movie ended with applause from the packed theater. What does that tell you?

What hurts The Brave One is the aforementioned standard Jodie Foster character, a score that becomes extremely melodramatic at times and some camera tricks that make you feel like you are on the Pirate ride at your local fair. Still, The Brave One gets my approval as a decent thriller that I could see actually happening. Not many could go through what Erica Bain does without becoming bitter. What got me was I realized that it was almost dumb luck that leads her down the road to vigilantism, I can see in my mind's eye the other path. The woman who lives in fear for the rest of her life. Kudos to Erica Bain for not curling up in a corner somewhere.

Sometimes the end of a movie makes it worth seeing, The Brave One is one of those films.

Till Death Wish 6: Kersey VS. Bain,
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Mitch E
mitch@comicbookbin.com