I don’t exactly know why Hollywood is returning once again to the Death Wish well, but I must admit I’m very entertained by what it’s pulling up. A couple of weeks ago we saw Death Sentence, which starred Kevin Bacon as a loving family man who loses his son at the hands of a vicious gang. To avenge his son’s death, he goes after the hoodlums with a whole lot of fire power. This week, the Death Wish formula strikes again with The Brave One, in which a woman loses a loved one and goes after lowlife thugs with a lot of bullets and a lot of anger. While Death Sentence was a grotesque nightmare that treaded on slasher film territory, The Brave One is a psychological drama that brings full dramatic weight to what it feels like to be a vigilante.
Jodie Foster stars as Erica Bain, the host of a talk radio show that celebrates the romanticism of living in New York City. Indeed, Erica appears to be living the New York dream: great job, great apartment, and a successful fiancé named David (Naveen Andrews). One night, Erica and David walk their dog through central park and encounter a group of sinister thugs. The thugs brutally attack them, leaving Erica in a coma and David murdered. After awakening from her coma and realizing what has happened, Erica grows paralyzed with fear of the city she once loved. She is afraid of another attack at the hands of the city’s worst. This leads her to illegally buy a hand gun for protection. One night at a convenience store, Erica witnesses a madman shoot the clerk and steal money. In defense, she shoots the gunman dead. Instead of being traumatized by this event, Erica feels liberated from her fears. She feels true justice is being done and her courage is being reclaimed. This leads her on a spree of vigilante killings, in which everyone from criminal lowlifes to corporate slime are blown away at the hands of Erica’s vengeful rage. Pretty soon, homicide detective Mercer (Terrance Howard) is on to her, but sympathizes with her victimized soul. Erica takes a liking to him because he seems to be one of the few New York cops who actually cares about true justice. They form an unlikely friendship that grows more tense once the evidence from the murders begin to pile up. Things grow even more complicated when Mercer supplies her with clues to the identity of David’s killers.
What makes The Brave One special is not just that it shows a woman executing vigilante murders, but that it asks why and how a woman would do this. The film asks hard questions about vigilante ideals and explores the psychological workings of an innocent person who slowly becomes a justified murderer. Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview With the Vampire) is skilled at crafting moody atmospheres of loss and dread. Here that atmosphere helps to give the audience the sense of the intense feeling that is haunting Erica to the core. A simple scene in which Erica is terrified to walk out her front door is made to be truly scary thanks to Jordan’s considerable skill. He picks some very interesting angles on this material. It is interesting how Erica becomes more comfortable, even addicted, to her newfound murderous ways (“Why don’t my hands shake?” she asks after shooting two men).
What’s even more fascinating is the friendship that develops between Erica and Mercer. In most revenge films, the vigilante has an intelligent cop snapping at their heels. Mercer represents that aspect of the formula. But while most cases show the vigilante at odds with the cop, The Brave One shows the two grow a strong affection and understanding for each other. They both share a sadness for victims and a need for true justice. It is through this common bond in which they find a comfort they cannot find anywhere else in the world. There’s a great scene in which Mercer takes Erica to a diner and drops obvious hints that he knows what she’s done. He doesn’t do this as a threat, but as a subtle warning and an offer of true help (“What would David think?” he asks her).
This all eventually leads to an ending that is meant to be satisfying but only raises peculiar questions about the film’s message. I won’t give much of it away, just to say that it says a lot for vigilante revenge and not a whole lot for our justice system in general. What exactly is the ending saying? Is street justice the only true justice left in the world? Can only wild animals take care of the other wild animals? Like A History of Violence, the ending deals with violence we’re willing to accept in order to sleep better at night.
Jodie Foster has become one of those rare actresses who can play whatever role she wants whenever she wants to. She gets the kind of material most actresses would kill for. Indeed, a victimized woman who takes control of her fear and fights back would be a great role for any starlet. It almost goes without saying that the always wonderful Foster delivers the goods perfectly in her performance. She strips the character raw and shows the audience what makes her tic at her emotional core. We can almost picture a lesser actress going over the top with this type of role, but Foster is fully convincing in her acting skills. Also great is the role of Mercer that is brought to life by the wonderful Terrance Howard. The thankless role of the suspecting police detective is given an unexpected depth by the screenplay and Howard’s charisma and focus help it to fully surpass our expectations. What a great actor. Foster and Howard seem like an unlikely duo, but these skilled pros have a wonderful chemistry. Their on-screen friendship is the best part of this film. Like Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma, they’re fascinating as two people on opposite sides of the law who find a peculiar connection beneath their differences.
So as of right now, you have a choice between two vigilante stories at your multiplex: Death Sentence or The Brave One. Which one is the better film? That’s a rather tough call. Despite their similarities in structure, the two films are very different from each other. Death Sentence is an exaggerated and violent vision of a suburban nightmare while The Brave One is probably the most intelligent drama one could gather from the vigilante formula. Death Sentence is strong on its violence yet weak on its drama, while The Brave One is vice versa. Death Sentence is gripping and terrifying, but it’s not as thoughtful or patient as The Brave One. I could compare these films all day. Let’s just say they cancel each other out and that’s that. I’ll say one thing though: these vigilante films really pack a punch. They stir me up during the viewing then make me leave the theatre feeling emotionally drained. That’s probably one of the highest compliments one could give to a Hollywood thriller.
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