Critic Reviews
Brave One, The (2007) Rank 2 Reviews
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based on (194) reviews
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KPBS.org (Beth Accomando)
The performers, however, almost make us forget the problems with the script. Foster and Howard are a riveting pair. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at KPBS.org (Beth Accomando)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
ShowBIZ Data
Jodie Foster is inevitably being described as a female Charles Bronson in her role as Erica Bain, a New York woman bent on killing the men who brutally attacked her and murdered her fiance in Central Park. Claudia Puig in USA Today dismisses The Brave ...read the complete Brave One movie review at ShowBIZ Data
HollywoodChicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Austin Chronicle (Steve Davis)
The Brave One is a confounding movie on many levels. For all its sophistication and sensitivity, it turns out to be little more than an upscale B-movie about getting even. This revenge fantasy is set in motion by a senseless act of ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Austin Chronicle (Steve Davis)
This is London (Derek Malcolm)
What you can't deny is Foster's expertise at mixing vulnerability with an inner rage that half excuses what she is doing. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at This is London (Derek Malcolm)
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
In âThe Brave One,â Jodie Foster plays Erica Bain, a radio host from New York City who goes through more trauma in just a few months than most people experience in a lifetime. It all starts ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Austin Chronicle (Steve Davis)
Unfortunately, the plotting in The Brave One is rather pedestrian and often flawed, undermining this films potential for greatness. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Austin Chronicle (Steve Davis)
eFilmCritic.com (Dawn Taylor)
Apparently itâs the season for vigilante movies, first with the release of the ultra-violent âDeath Sentence,â and now the Jodie Foster-as-Charles Bronson revenge flick âThe Brave One.â Maybe it's a post-Labor Day thing, like putting away the wh ...read the complete Brave One movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Dawn Taylor)
Empire Magazine [UK]
FilmJudge (David Mercier)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Foster (Inside Man, Flight Plan) plays New York radio personality Erica Bain, who finds her world crumble when she and her fiancée (Andrews,Grindhouse)are assaulted and battered by a bunch of thugs and left for dead. She wakes from a coma to learn that h ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
ReviewExpress.com (Diana Saenger)
My one complaint about this otherwise excellent film involves the ending, which doesn't ring true to me. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at ReviewExpress.com (Diana Saenger)
The Critical Critics
Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
The finale is bad enough to make you wish the actress were working more often, so that the blatantly commercial stuff wasn't all she was letting us see. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Terribly titled and audaciously plotted, The Brave One offers another chance to watch Jodie Foster piece together a complicated, determined character, again trying to make sense of a chaotic world. This time, as radio talk-essayist Erica Bain, sheâs ...read the complete Brave One movie review at PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
cinemattraction (Brandon Fibbs)
The Brave One is being advertised as a revenge pic even though it is nothing of the sort. It has more in common with M. Night Shyamalanâs Unbreakable or even the TV series Heroes than with the Charles Bronson vehicle Death Wish. The Brave One feels like ...read the complete Brave One movie review at cinemattraction (Brandon Fibbs)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Works as exploitation but fails at anything more socially relevant. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Eventually we wake up. This is really just another Ms. .45 revenge flick, only with artistic pretensions. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
It's lily-livered narrative cowardice, and I reject it. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
The likes of the great, loony Ms. 45 and dozens of Asian exploitation movies did [this subject] trashier. Yet, somehow, many of those felt more honest. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
Newsday (Jan Stuart)
A cheapjack vigilante potboiler. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Newsday (Jan Stuart)
TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Riddled with illogical plot contrivances, pat irony, half-formed subplots, and a climax that stretches the boundaries of what can be swallowed. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
not unlike its heroine: conflicted and unsure of which way to go. ...(Foster) emphasizes Erica's anguish and the shock that comes from realizing that you're capable of doing things you once would have found abhorrent. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)
Despite some quality performances, from both Foster and her co-star, Terrence Howard, The Brave One is every bit as ludicrous and every bit as wrong-headed and distasteful as those other [vigilante] films. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)
Metromix.com (Matt Pais)
Both viewers and the characters onscreen must deal with the fact that we like when criminals get what's coming to them, regardless of who's pulling the trigger. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Metromix.com (Matt Pais)
World Voice News (Frank Ochieng)
Jordan's Brave delves into a showy yet sluggish crime drama that incorporates all the cliched parts of a fatalistic fantasy audiences have seen over and over. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at World Voice News (Frank Ochieng)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Nothing brave about it. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
The film doesn't know whether it should celebrate Erica's evolution into a feminine vigilante warrior or condemn it. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Regardless of the artistry involved, The Brave One ultimately never really strays from the same moral low road as Death Wish . ...read the complete Brave One movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Christianity Today (Steven D. Greydanus)
Every slimeball Erica encounters menaces her with remorseless, repulsive sadism—there's never anyone who just has a lewd comment, say… Everyone wants to bludgeon or shoot her, mutilate and molest her… ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Christianity Today (Steven D. Greydanus)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
Where once [Foster] made Nell ... and, yes, Silence of the Lambs , now she makes commercial trash like this. She, and her fans, deserve better. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
The Brave One celebrates its avenging angel as it pretends to examine her. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
ReelTalk (John P. McCarthy)
Jodie's got a gun and she's not afraid to use it in The Brave One, a hardcore vigilante thriller directed by Neil Jordan of The Crying Game fame. After Panic Room and Flightplan, who could doubt a Jodie Foster heroine of the new millennium can protect ...read the complete Brave One movie review at ReelTalk (John P. McCarthy)
Hollywood.com (Kit Bowen)
The Brave One, as most vigilante movies do, reaches into our underbellies and asks the question: How far would you go to right a wrong done horribly to you? In the case of New York radio host Erica Bain (Foster), that question ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Hollywood.com (Kit Bowen)
Film Journal International (David Noh)
Letâs call her âDirty Jodie.â In The Brave One, Jodie Foster takes matters in her own hands, both as executive producer and star of this ultra-dark study of vigilantism. Playing talk-radio host Erica Bain, she walks the streets of her beloved New Yo ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Film Journal International (David Noh)
The New York Times
Erica Bain, the gunslinging heroine of âThe Brave One,â is the host of a public radio talk show called âStreet Walkâ that takes a sentimental, nostalgic view of New York City. Also a rather purple one, since Erica is prone to come up with poeticis ...read the complete Brave One movie review at The New York Times
Screen International
Jodie Foster delivers a performance far superior to her material in Neil Jordan's self-consciously provocative and largely absurd vigilante drama - which has its world premiere as a Special Presentation in Toronto. Attempting to hit the same hot buttons ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Screen International
The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
"The Brave One" coincidentally comes to theaters exactly two weeks after "Death Sentence," a subjectively very similar film about an average joe who turns to vigilantism after a loved one is murdered. The earlier film, starring Kevin Bacon and directed ...read the complete Brave One movie review at The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
Variety
Hell hath no fury like a woman with a grudge, and in âThe Brave One,â Jodie Foster unleashes her rage on the mean streets of New York with the same mesmeric intensity and steely resolve that have characterized her very best performances. Fosterâs ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Variety
New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
What could impel Jodie Foster and director Neil Jordan to whisk us back to the bad old days of Death Wish and Ms. 45? Were their credit cards maxed out? Were their kneecaps about to be broken? In The Brave One, Foster plays a radio host who delivers ...read the complete Brave One movie review at New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
Cinematical (Ryan Stewart)
The latest film from Neil Jordan is called The Brave One, but I'd be willing to bet money that the working title was The Stranger, since the word stranger is used repeatedly throughout the film to describe the alienated condition of the main character, a ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Cinematical (Ryan Stewart)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
Five feet of sinew crowned with blade-sharp cheekbones, Jodie Foster is flexed, vexed and primed to strike in The Brave One, an exploitation flick with top-flight talent and arty pretensions. The revenge fantasy directed by Neil Jordan insists that a ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
Richmond Times-Dispatch
We have long known that Jodie Foster is a formidable force. This much was obvious from "Taxi Driver," which earned her an Oscar nomination for playing a prostitute ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Richmond Times-Dispatch
Palo Alto Online (Susan Tavernetti)
Jodie Foster's fierce, Oscar-worthy performance isn't the big surprise in Neil Jordan's revenge thriller. The two-time Academy Award winner ("The Silence of the Lambs," "The Accused") has a career of astonishing work, bringing an intelligence to ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Palo Alto Online (Susan Tavernetti)
filmcritic.com (Jason Morgan)
Violence is inherent. Brought on by fear, anger, despair or ignorance, it's a side of humanity we'd rather forget -- until it rips into our lives and forces us to change. It comes without warning and violates our way of life, our hope. And still, our ...read the complete Brave One movie review at filmcritic.com (Jason Morgan)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
As one who grew up in during the Golden Age of 1980s vengeance cinema, I canât tell you how gratifying it is to see the resurgence in the genre taking place some 20 years later. First, Kevin Bacon visited extreme prejudice upon all those who mocked his ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
In the final reel, Jordan and Foster serve up violence and revenge as cynical button-pushing, which the audience eats up with a Pavlovian response. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
At its best, this high-toned vigilante picture depicts a woman almost literally transformed by violence, first as a victim, then as a participant; she could be a cousin to one of the car-wreck victims in David Cronenberg's 'Crash.' ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Antagony & Ecstasy (Tim Brayton)
Too unpleasantly stern to be exploitation, and too bloodthirsty to be drama. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Antagony & Ecstasy (Tim Brayton)
WFAA-TV (Gary Cogill)
The Brave One is a violent, well-made, but ultimately unsatisfying female vigilante film starring Oscar winner Jodie Foster.
Her boyfriend is murdered, she is left for dead, so what does Jodie do? ...read the complete Brave One movie review at WFAA-TV (Gary Cogill)
MovieWeb (Adam Frazier)
It is my opinion that Jodie Foster is one of our strongest and most talented American actresses. Foster is consistently convincing in a ...read the complete Brave One movie review at MovieWeb (Adam Frazier)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
By the standards of urban vigilante movies, âThe Brave Oneâ is certainly a class act. Itâs directed by Neil Jordan with cunning intensity, and Jodie Foster pulls out all the stops as Erica Bain, the host of a radio talk show whoâs driven to confro ...read the complete Brave One movie review at One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
kids-in-mind
A NYC radio show host (Jodie Foster) turns into a vigilante after she and her fiancé (Naveen Andrews) are brutally attacked in Central Park. While the entire ...read the complete Brave One movie review at kids-in-mind
Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
ReelzChannel (Erica Bain and Curtis the Dog)
ShowBizCafe.com (Jack Rico)
Eye for Film ("Chris")
Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
All in all, if chicks with guns are your thing, by all means put this on your Netflix list when it hits DVD. Your movie-going dollars would most likely be better spent elsewhere. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
eFilmCritic.com (Mel Valentin)
One day, Jodie Foster, Terence Howard, and writer/director Neil Jordan ("Breakfast on Pluto," "The End of the Affair," "The Butcher Boy," "Michael Collins," "The Crying Game," "Mona Lisa," "The Company of Wolves") will have to answer for "The Brave One," ...read the complete Brave One movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Mel Valentin)
Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
An ugly, nasty, self-deluding piece of sadistic trash. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
ReelzChannel (Erica Bain and Curtis the Dog)
The Brave One seems like a movie whose success isn't terribly dependent on critical acclaim. Chances are, you made up your mind about seeing this one or not the second you finished viewing the trailer. "I want my dog back. Bam!" Am I ...read the complete Brave One movie review at ReelzChannel (Erica Bain and Curtis the Dog)
Gazette (MD) (Jeffrey Lyles)
it most certainly is 'The Long One.' ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Gazette (MD) (Jeffrey Lyles)
Bullz-Eye.com
Director Neil Jordan has come a long way since his glory days on films like âThe Crying Gameâ and âInterview with a Vampire,â and I say that in the least flattering way possible. His latest film, âThe Brave One,â feels more like a product of a ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Bullz-Eye.com
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
If someone you loved was taken from you by someone whose own line between life and death was based on sheer impulse and a propulsion to violence, would you think twice about wanting to see them suffer the same fate? Maybe even care to carry out the ...read the complete Brave One movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
UR Chicago Magazine (Mark Dujsik)
Has neither the depth of character nor of theme to justify the condoning of her actions. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at UR Chicago Magazine (Mark Dujsik)
Film Experience (Nathaniel Rogers)
Following her first vigilante act, the movie starts hemorhagging IQ points and the faux hand wringing escalates. This movie never stops lying to itself ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Film Experience (Nathaniel Rogers)
Appreciating Great Trash (Chris Coleman)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
"THE BRAVE ONE" is less a brave movie than a foolhardy one. Trapped in a no man's land between seriousness and pulp trash, it plays like a combination of "Death Wish" and "The Hours." If that sounds like an awkward fit, it is. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
Neil Jordan's career has been full of ups and downs since he made a name for himself 15 years ago with The Crying Game, and One is mostly on the up side. It stars Jodie Foster in yet another role as an innocent white woman suffering through some sort of ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
RopeofSilicon (Laremy Legel)
The Brave One is a terrible movie even though it does have a pretty good ending. I give credit to the ending, but it isn't nearly enough to salvage the film. So I can't recommend you see this; it would be asking you to waste two hours of your life for a ...read the complete Brave One movie review at RopeofSilicon (Laremy Legel)
Bucket Reviews (Danny Baldwin)
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
This film has a misleading title - "The Brave One" - I guess when you have a gun in your hand you're brave, as Jodie Foster is here, and when you use it you're even braver, but like the rest of us, when you don't have that gun you're, well, like the rest ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
BBC Films
Following the terminally awful Death Sentence, director Neil Jordan takes a more considered bash at vigilantism in The Brave One. He resists orgiastic violence, instead giving Jodie Foster a chance to plumb the depths of Erica Bain, a career woman and ...read the complete Brave One movie review at BBC Films
Film School Rejects (Kevin Carr)
FromTheBalcony (Bill Clark)
The Brave One is glossy trash masquerading as a meaningful and important drama, and that's the biggest shame of all. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at FromTheBalcony (Bill Clark)
Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
Foster and Howard are both wonderful actors and they try very hard to make this soul stuff work. But the absurdity of the script does them in. ...read the complete Brave One movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
What the hell? When did vigilantism come back into style, become something all the cool kids were into? I mean, sheesh: You invade one measly little Middle Eastern country on trumped up evidence and out of a misguided desire for vengeance and all of a ...read the complete Brave One movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
User Reviews
by Diana de Avila "G... on October 26, 2009
I am a huge fan of Jodie Foster and just saw this film a few days ago and loved it. A great performance definitely on par with The Silence of the ...
by Jusuf Hariman on October 15, 2009
Of THE BRAVE ONE, Rob Lowing, the Sun Herald ...
by Lee Nearing on July 04, 2009
Everyone should see this movie. Jodie Foster at her finest. This movie miraculously dares to hint at the truth! How they ever got it done in today's political climate is a mystery , but somehow they let this one through the PC Censors. Thank you , Jodie ...
by Charles D. Merril... on June 05, 2009
I don't condone vigilante violence...but some people just flat deserve it! Jodie Foster is one of my top 5 favorite actresses of the 20th and 21st centuries. She seems to put ...
by SunnyATL "SunnyAT... on May 23, 2009
This movie is Ms. Foster at her finest. She's mesmerizing in anything she's in, and the only thing she could do better is act in more movies! I can't get enough. Jodie, you absolutely rule, and your portrayal of Erica Bain is stunning. ...
by J. Frecks on April 21, 2009
Jodie Foster thriller with her superb control of the screen! If you like to see the bad guy fall and the little guy win, then this is for you. Surprise ending. Graphic, but not too graphic. ...
by chris on February 25, 2009
I loved the movie,it was suspenseful,and Jodie fosters best acting,in my oppinion,definately worth watching. it is rare to see a female that is strong in movies,and some people do not like that,but I love it. ...
by Barbara Ann Hamat... on January 06, 2009
The Brave One has lots of action, drama, and suspense. ...
by Keith Mirenberg on December 08, 2008
The Brave One was an excellent film which deserves a five star rating. Besides the very excellent action story featuring an abundance of action and violence, this story has a lot to say about never being able to return to who you were prior to being made ...
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