Review by Katherine Ramsland

(Continued)

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Homicide detective Sean Mercer (Terrance Howard) sympathizes with the urge to eliminate evil, but he can't allow people to just take the law into their own hands — not even if the world thus becomes a better place. While he's a little too quick to guess what's going on, he must confront his own relief that someone is doing what he wishes he could. The final moments for Erica and Sean in this film are not necessarily what one might hope, and no doubt both characters will regret their part, but however viewers and reviewers will evaluate that scene, it won't erase the fine edge of the rest of this intense and philosophically difficult film.

Neil Jordon (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) directed the tale, written by Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor, and Cynthia Mort. They apparently seek to transcend the action flick genre by adding some literate moments, and Jordon is known for drawing out the finely nuanced human qualities from intensely dark stories, especially when protagonists are trapped in difficult situations. Several scenes between Erica and Detective Mercer roil with unspoken awareness and need, and one gets the feeling that the presence of each for the other offers the potential for psychological redemption.

The Brave One - Poster

Foster is well-cast for this role, a perfect blend of fragility and strength, as she evolves from a woman selecting wedding invitations to a helpless victim with little support to a leather-clad avenger who walks by night. Even so, there's no comic-book feel to it; Erica steps up to the plate in a realistic manner. Shooting people is not what she wants to do but it feels to her like the only course of action available to regain a sense of personal power. Yet while it feels good to rub out scum, that same act robs her of something as well. She grows more, not less, tense and angry.

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