The Brave One (2007) Movie Review

The Brave One is a 2007 crime-thriller-action film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Zoë Kravitz and Nicky Katt. It was written by Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor and Cynthia Mort. The film was a box office bomb (keep in mind, Foster got paid $15 million for this film) and reviews were mixed at the time. After all, it's an interesting depiction of post-traumatic stress disorder and of women who don't want to be victims and take action.

Erica Bain (Forster) is a New York radio host who lives an average life. One day, Erica and her husband are attacked by a group of muggers. She is badly wounded and her man is murdered in cold blood by the criminals. After her recovery, she spends most of her time as a vigilante, killing robbers and low lifes with her handgun (one she got from the black market after failing to buy a weapon). Meanwhile, detective Sean Mercer (Terence Howard) is going after the recent acts of vigilantism Erica committed.

This plot right here is essentially a very modernized version of the notorious and controversial seventies film Death Wish, it has pretty much the same structure and themes as a whole, the message of the movie about "justice" is also just as questionable. However, the film wasn't as polemic during its release and was seen as a rather tame entry in the revenge sub genre but one that delivers what it promises when it comes to cheap thrills.

That's certainly a good assessment because The Brave One is sort of a more violent and slightly more socially conscious film than average that manages to create a more gripping experience than the original, making the story be a bit more interiorized and ending up being more emotionally effective and captivating than the other film.

Jodie Foster is great as the vigilante lady, she manages to make you care about such a normal trope of a character with her conviction and acting skills. The supporting actors do their job competently but most of them never actually stick into your mind and some of them are annoying, like the officer who is onto the protagonist's antics. The direction and technical aspects are honestly pretty impressive and well done, always stimulating and dynamic with its editing and camera work.

I could recommend The Brave One if you are up for a decently done action crime film from its era, it doesn't overstay its welcome and has some nice acting moments from Foster but it's nothing particularly special and has several flaws in its logic and its derivative nature is surely tiresome.

Gone (2012) Review

Gone is a 2012 thriller starring Amanda Seyfried and directed by Heitor Dhalia. Dhalia was known in Brazil for his artsy films and his 2009 movie À Deriva competed in Cannes that year, so it was probably the movie that got him to Hollywood. He apparently had a terrible time shooting this picture as he had no creative control and tried to disown it. The film was written by Allison Burnett, he worked on a few generic action and sports movies but also in Underworld: Awakening, released the same year as Gone. This unlikely mix resulted in an engaging but uneven film that critics hated and did badly at the box office. 

The story is about Jill (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman who was kidnapped a year before the events of the film by a serial killer. At least that's what she believes, as no evidence was ever found and investigators think it was all on her head, so she was sent to a psychiatric institution. Now she lives with her younger sister Molly (Emily Wickersham), enjoying what's a seemingly normal life aside from some haunting memories of the traumatic event. Suddenly, her sister vanishes and Jill believes she was abducted by the serial killer who kidnapped her. The authorities don't believe her, so the girl decides to take matters into her own hands.

The movie sports some decent cinematography, very gray and almost colorless shots with cold colors that really immerse you into the melancholic atmosphere, always dry and gloomy, it causes a very solid effect on the viewer and fits the tone very well. It has the style of a 2010's thriller but before the aesthetic began to be completely tiresome. It's a solid work on the visuals but it's lacking any stylistic voice aside from some clever camera movements and shot compositions. 

I liked the interesting relationship between two sisters that's at the heart of the film, their bond becomes troubled when the protagonist becomes paranoid after her kidnapping. When Jill takes self-defense classes she becomes too brutal and often loses control, making her truly unstable and adding to the perception of her being deranged. I think they should have added a few more scenes of Jill and Molly being together so we can get a better idea of how close they truly are, because a very important part of the film is simply treated as an excuse to begin the heroine's search. However, I do get that at this point we are supposed to doubt if her story is real or not, so not knowing much about them seems logical.

One of the many movies that touch upon how authorities let women down and people often don't believe them when they speak up about certain issues, it's practically a subgenre, particularly in places like the USA. Every cop and most men in this movie either deny any chance of her story being true or tries to use Jill's situation for selfish purposes, even the female cop spouts some sexist lines. The film denounces the police as inherently misogynistic or at least infested with cops who are, but it's not heavily moralizing, just fed up with it and asking people to take action and listen.   

While there are no real surprises (the film doesn't have a mind-bending twist), it's a very tense and perfectly satisfactory thriller of its time that's consistently entertaining. Maybe the ending makes things too easy for the heroine but it's actually a very realistic resolution that doesn't aim for spectacle but for vindication as the struggle was always internal. 

I will also add that Seyfried is quite solid, angelic-looking and very convincing in her role. Check it out, it's a good way to spend some fast paced 90 minutes of your time.