Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

The Brave One Blu-ray Movie Review

This dark and dreary film fails to be the knockout it could have been.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 10, 2008

There is no going back to that other. She is gone. This thing, this stranger, it’s all you are now.

There is an old saying: "if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." I'm not necessarily sure that that holds true for everybody and for every situation, but it pretty much sums up the motivation of Jodie Foster's character in The Brave One. If you've seen the ads for the film then you know that it's basically a film revolving around the work of a vigilante, a person who takes justice into their own hands, foregoing the mediation of the law through conventional channels and doling out instant punishment on the streets. Such people and such films always make for interesting character studies, and The Brave One is certainly the highest profile film to focus on this phenomena since Death Wish.

Jodie Foster unwinds with some trigger time.

Jodie Foster is a wonderful actress. She plays roles in suspenseful and frightening films like Flightplan and Panic Room rather well, and The Brave One is another Foster feature where she plays a regular woman thrust into an unthinkable situation. Here, she portrays Erica Bain, a radio commentator who is engaged to a doctor named David (Naveen Andrews, Lost). They lead a simple and happy life, and their biggest ordeals include choosing the proper wedding invitations and the date for the big day. During a stroll through the park one evening, the couple is assaulted by a gang in a tunnel. David is killed and Erica is beaten so severely that she slips into a three week coma. She recovers physically but the emotional bruises continue to take a toll. She cannot leave her apartment for fear of the outside world, and when she does, she decides to purchase a handgun. After she is turned down at the store and told of a thirty day waiting period, she purchases one from a dealer in a back alley for a thousand dollars. Soon after, she witnesses a murder in a convenience store and proceeds to kill the perpetrator out of self-defense after he becomes aware of her presence. Erica soon finds herself drawn to the world of street justice, finding herself in more situations that call for vigilantism. She comes to know the detective on the case of the vigilante (Terrence Howard, August Rush) on a personal level. As he closes in on the identity of the vigilante, Erica works to close in on the identity of those who ruined her life and made her into the cold, stoic killer she has become, a person who asks of her reaction to killing, "Why don't my hands shake? Why doesn't someone stop me? "

The Brave One is a film I really wanted to like. Make no mistake about it: it's a good film, well made, and well acted, but the movie felt far too "clean," simple, and easy for the subject material at hand. The film is brutal at times in its depiction of violence, especially the beating that kills David and nearly takes the life of Erica, but that brutality never really leads to any "stand up and cheer" type moments as Bain crusades for her brand of justice. Despite Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard delivering fine performances, the film is quite a drag overall. By "drag," I mean both literally and figuratively. Literally, the movie seemed to move along at a snail's pace, and whether intentional or not on the part of director Neil Jordan I do not know. I do know that, for me, the slow pace hindered the movie rather than helping me feel any more sympathy for the main character, and I certainly didn't need more time for everything to sink in. This is a clunky film that could have been much better with some tidy edits and a grittier feel after Erica becomes the vigilante. Figuratively, the film is a drag as it focuses on rather depressing subject material, and while we get the ending we want for Erica, something about its convenience and ease felt artificial, almost tacked on, and once again an important aspect of the movie fails to deliver any real emotional impact. Then again, I have no suggestions on how to improve the story, but being a fan of "downer" endings, a much less crowd-pleasing finale would have likely satisfied me more.

Perhaps the best thing The Brave One has going for it is the number of questions it raises in the viewer after the credits roll, questions that will no doubt linger in the back of the mind for quite some time. On the one hand, I'm a person who is very sympathetic to the plight of people like Erica Bain. I also have a great deal of respect for the rule of law. This film is obviously meant to nag at the sympathetic bones in our bodies and once it's grabbed us, it then thrusts our minds into any number of "what if" scenarios as we place ourselves and our loved ones into each situation Erica faces in the film, from the initial mugging and beating of her and her fiancé to the climactic scene of the film. What would we do? How would we react? How could we prevent such atrocities? Is this just? Is this moral? With the way the film ends, I felt it was pretty obvious in which direction we were being nudged, and I cannot say I disagree with it. When you think about the quote referenced above, "if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself," you've just got to wonder where exactly the line between law and lawlessness is and what will push you over it. In Erica's case, the line is fairly cut and dry. For others and for other situations, perhaps not so much. The Brave One may be one of the most thought provoking films in years not because it's a necessarily deep or intellectual film, but because it asks simple questions that you may never know the answers to until you are faced with a situation that brings those question to the forefront once again. Perhaps the best we can do in the meantime is hope that situations that would make those questions relevant and timely outside of film simply never have the opportunity to arise in our own lives.

The Brave One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Brave One is another great looking disc from Warner. I was extremely impressed with the visual style of this movie. Presented in 1080p high definition and inside its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, this image looks clean and free of any discernible negatives. This is yet another film that sports a rather drab color scheme, eliminating most of the bright colors in favor of darker shades, all the while staying out of harsh lighting and naturally bright locales. The theme of the movie is certainly a dark one, and the look of the film, visually, reinforces that undertone very well. Black levels are appropriately excellent throughout, featuring an inky and flawless presentation. The print itself is absolutely pristine and I didn't notice much (if any) grain in the source. Fine detail is extremely high and the image appears very clean with quite a bit of depth. Flesh tones are spot on and natural in appearance. All in all, this is about as good a transfer as you can expect, especially for a movie shot in low light and sporting a desaturated color scheme and whose most important scenes are bathed in darkness. This is a fine effort from Warner Brothers.

The Brave One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner Brothers presents The Brave One with a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. While I wouldn't necessarily label this as a "weak" soundtrack, there certainly isn't a whole lot going on to really draw the viewer in or heighten the more intense scenes in the picture. What we get is a mostly straightforward, front heavy sound design with most of the emphasis on dialogue. The Brave One is certainly not your average shooter movie that depends on explosions and car chases to progress the story, so it should come as no surprise that even with the inclusion of the lossless track, there is no real "wow" factor accompanying this mix. Dialogue is presented with clarity and fine attention to detail, though I found it slightly hard to hear during a few points in the film. Therefore, I listened to this one a few notches higher than normal. The rear channels are used only sparingly. Ambiance and music slip into the back channels every now and then, but they play second fiddle to the harder-hitting elements of the track that occur up front. Gun shots, though fairly few and far between, reverberate with authority and impact, and represent the strongest use of low frequency effects in the film, shared only by a few pieces of music scattered here and there. A montage of events in chapter 20 represents the height of the track, seemingly re-mixing a few moments we've already witnessed in the film with a louder, more aggressive presence. This is a solid track, if just a bit underwhelming, but considering the source material just doesn't call for an overly rambunctious audio assault, we can label this one as "very good."

The Brave One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Oddly enough, Warner Brothers has chosen not include very many special features on either this Blu-ray disc or on the standard definition DVD version. In other words, fans of The Brave One need look elsewhere for their fill of additional material for this release. Behind the Story: I Walk the City (1080i, 21:41) showcases the cast and crew discussing what sets The Brave One apart from other vigilante films and the motivations and feelings of the character of Erica Bain. Also featured are changes in the script, filming locales, and photographic styles employed in the film. This is a decent one-stop-shop for your behind-the-scenes needs for the casual viewer, but fans of the film will be left craving more. Also included are several additional scenes (480p, 6:45) that flesh out the characters and the story a bit more, but they are nothing that would have improved the film had they been left in the final cut.

The Brave One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Brave One is a movie that might leave your average movie-goer satisfied with its wholly predictable story line and clean, happy ending, but as a fan of bleaker cinema I was left disappointed. The movie features some strong points, notably the performances by and chemistry between Foster and Howard, but they failed to save the film from its rather mundane feel and overly long, often dragging, screenplay. Nevertheless, this is a movie that might challenge you to rethink your outlook on life and make some changes so as to be better prepared for the unexpected. Perhaps the best lesson we can hope to learn from this film is that taking small steps now to protect that which you love could very well prevent you from having to take much larger and more drastic steps only after its too late. There will be differing reactions to this film, and the best first step to figuring out how to handle the worst life can throw at you is to decide how best to approach dangerous situations before you're confronted by them. Regarding the Blu-ray disc itself, this one is sure to please from a technical perspective. Warner delivers an excellent video presentation and a more than adequate audio production. Supplements are severely lacking which may be a turn off for some viewers. Jodie Foster fans will want to add this one to their collection, but I would ultimately recommend seeing this film before laying down more than $20 for a copy to own.