Violent and Unbelievable: The Brave One

The Brave One
Directed by Neil Jordan
Released September 14, 2007

Best described I think as a "vigilante revenge thriller", this film oversteps its boundaries only a few minutes in. The story, about a woman who goes on a justice-inspired killing spree after the brutal murder of her fiancee, is intriguing enough but the plot becomes stretched so thin that it is hard to keep up. Not to say that is anything is confusing, but rather too many unrealistic developments occur one after another, and there is nothing grounding the film. Or its characters, who for that matter are actually pretty underdeveloped which is especially surprising and disappointing given that the movie is about the main character's journey. Her speedily formed buddy-buddy relationship with a cop on the case seems forced and fast-forwarded. Normally great actors Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard deliver unenthusiastic and unmemorable performances that do little to enhance their already flawed (both in the sense of the writing and in the sense of their personalities) characters. Though it is only about two hours long, the continually thinning sense of believability makes it seem all too lengthy.

D+