The psychological thriller The Brave One will go down in my book as Jodi Foster’s best effort since Silence of the Lambs.  Her dramatic performance of a person wanting justice after being brutally beaten gets you involved in the storyline and holds you captive until the very end.  If you love crime stories that lead you to the dark side of life, then take a walk with Jodi and see how it feels to be obsessed with a brave and sometimes fool hearted sense of justice.

Erica’s (Jodi Foster) the host of “Street Walk” a unique radio talk show with the sounds of the city of New York in the background.  Day after day she walks the street recording anything that catches her ear.  She loves New York and feels safe in any neighborhood. Her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) is in the medical field keeping New Yorkers alive.  Taking the dog for a walk in the park relieves their stress from a laborious workday.  However, on one such evening they head down a path that changes their lives forever, one temporarily and the other permanently.  The movie asks the question, "What would you do if a brutal act tore your life to shreds in a matter of minutes?"  Erica’s choice forms the basic hero/retribution plot that takes her through the darkest allies of New York, but not to hunt the sounds of the city, but for bigger game.

Although the plot sounds a little familiar, Death Wish 1-5, Foster’s character makes this killing spree look more like a superhero trying to make Gotham safe, rather than a revenge story.  The Brave One poses the issue, "no mater how brutal the crime, does it justify taking the law into your own hands?"  Screenwriters Roderick and Bruce Taylor justify this by providing you with a platform to imagine what it would be like to retaliate and take that to the level of defending others.   

Jodi Foster gives an amazing performance as Erica who believes that everyone has a dark side within; ready to come out the moment you get tromped on.  Foster shows us her dark side as Erica and it’s very scary.  In terrific support of Foster's role, Terrance Howard plays Detective Mercer who gets assigned to a case of what he thinks is a serial killer on the loose.  His depiction of a cold and calculating detective is extremely good, adding to the credibility of the plot.

Reminder that there are some very realistic violent scenes, off color language, and brief nudity, so leave the little ones with a baby sitter.  You may not want to see this one alone.

FINAL ANALYSIS: An extremely deep and intense film that’s brilliantly acted and thought provoking.