The Brave One (2007 film)

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The Brave One
Brave one 2007.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Neil Jordan
Produced by Susan Downey
Joel Silver
Written by Roderick Taylor
Bruce A. Taylor
Cynthia Mort
Starring Jodie Foster
Naveen Andrews
Terrence Howard
Music by Dario Marianelli
Sarah McLachlan
Cinematography Philippe Rousselot
Editing by Tony Lawson
Studio Village Roadshow Pictures
Silver Pictures
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)
  • September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14) (US)
  • October 11, 2007 (2007-10-11) (AUS)
Running time 122 minutes
Country United States
Australia
Language English
Budget $70 million[1]
Box office $69,787,663[1]

The Brave One is a 2007 American crime-drama/psychological thriller film directed by Neil Jordan, produced by Joel Silver, and starring Jodie Foster. It was released in the United States on September 14, 2007. The film earned Foster a Golden Globe nomination for leading actress in a drama.

Contents

Plot[edit]

As radio show host Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) and her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) are walking their dog at Stranger's Gate in New York's Central Park, they are attacked by three violent criminals. David dies from his injuries, but Erica survives. Angry and traumatized, she attempts to purchase a gun. Terrified and unwilling to wait the month required to obtain it legally, she acquires a pistol from a stranger on the street.

She stops at a convenience store. While shopping, a man comes in screaming at his wife, the cashier, and then shoots her to death. The killer hears Erica's cell phone and stalks her in the aisles. Just as the killer finds her, Erica shoots and kills him. One night, two street thugs harass and threaten passengers in a subway car. The passengers all leave at the next stop except Erica. When the thugs threaten her with a knife, Erica is ready for them and kills them both. Another night, she saves a prostitute and kills her brutal pimp. All the while, Erica attempts to track down the thugs who killed David.

She strikes up a friendship with Detective Sean Mercer (Terrence Howard), who is investigating the vigilante crimes and who is initially unaware of her role in the deaths. Erica, in trying to find out if the detective is close to solving the vigilante killings, pretends to want to interview Mercer. They talk several times. Soon, Detective Mercer comes to suspect her as the killer but has nothing concrete.

At the climax of the film, Erica finds and confronts the thugs responsible for David's murder. She kills two, finding and releasing her dog in the process and struggles with the third. Mercer arrives on the scene and attempts to arrest him. Erica then retrieves her weapon and attempts to execute the thug. Mercer persuades Erica to lower the gun, but hands her his own in order for her to use a legal weapon to kill the last thug. Erica kills him, but then Mercer insists that Erica should wound him (Mercer) to help frame a story blaming the thugs as as the vigilante killers. Mercer places Erica's gun in the last thug's dead hand and Erica leaves the scene, eventually being rejoined by her dog in Central Park.

Cast[edit]

Release[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of September 2008 on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, 43 percent of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 175 reviews.[2] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 56 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.[3] Yahoo! movie ratings give it a "B-" from critics (14 reviews).

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 31⁄2 stars (out of 4); saying Foster and Howard "are perfectly modulated in the kinds of scenes difficult for actors to play, where they both know more than they're saying, and they both know it."[4]

Box office[edit]

In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film was #1 at the box office, grossing US$13,471,488 in 2,755 theaters.[5] As of December 29, 2007, the film has grossed $69,675,545 worldwide—$36,793,804 in the United States and Canada and $32,881,741 in other territories.[1]

Awards and nominations[edit]

The film received one Golden Globe nomination when the nominees for the 65th Golden Globe Awards were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Foster was nominated for Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture - Drama.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "The Brave One (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-12-29. 
  2. ^ "The Brave One - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-09-18. 
  3. ^ "Brave One, The (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-09-14. 
  4. ^ Roger Ebert Review
  5. ^ "The Brave One (2007) - Weekend Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
  6. ^ "HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007". goldenglobes.org. 2007-12-13. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-13. 

External links[edit]

Films directed by Neil Jordan
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
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