A revenge flick also deeply invested in character, The Brave One is a film that takes the temperature of our times, and artfully diagnoses a collective societal fever. It centers on Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), an erudite FM talk show host who shares the sounds and stories of New York City with her appreciative audience. When a brutal attack leaves her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) dead and her briefly in a coma, however, Erica finds strange new impulses awakened within her. After purchasing a gun for protection and stumbling upon a domestic dispute, she then puts herself in further situations where she might have to use it, all while Detective Sean Mercer (Terrence Howard) investigates string of unsolved vigilante homicides.
For the original capsule review, from CityBeat, click here and scroll down. (Warner Bros., R, 122 minutes)
 and solidly acted. Howard lends support as a figure of moral suasion himself grappling with the limits of action within the law. <B>Foster, meanwhile, knows how to wield steely inner resolve like it’s a direct extension of her physicality</B>, and several of her previous performances (<I>The Accused</I>, and certainly <I>Taxi Driver</I>), as well as would-be Reagan assassin John Hinckley’s obsession with her, give <I>The Brave One</I> a fascinating extra layer of textual depth.<BR><BR>While on the surface merely a gender-flipped take on <I>Death Wish</I>, <B>the film actually taps into vengeance’s much-undiscussed twin — the swallowed fear that frequently propels such a mindset</B>. It’s this element that gives the movie its thin, extra sociopolitical sheen — invisible to some, appreciated by those receptive to it. Even a quick-sell, somewhat gimmicky denouement — the film’s weakest point — can’t totally negate <I>The Brave One</I>‘s accomplishments.<o:p></o:p> <A href=)
For the original capsule review, from CityBeat, click here and scroll down. (Warner Bros., R, 122 minutes)