'Brave One' is disappointing

THE BRAVE ONE — ** — Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard; rated R (violence, profanity, gore, vulgarity, sex, drugs, brief nudity, slurs)

You might think you've seen "The Brave One" before — in the form of Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" movies and the spate of imitators that followed, as well as the current "Death Sentence" with Kevin Bacon.

The major difference between those vigilante-justice thrillers and this one is a female-empowerment spin, as Jodie Foster plays the wronged citizen who takes the law into her own hands.

Despite some quality performances, however, 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 films. Which makes this one an even bigger disappointment.

Foster stars as Erica Bain, a New York City radio host. Erica and her doctor fiance, David (Naveen Andrews, from TV's "Lost"), are walking their dog in the park late one night when they're confronted by thugs. The couple is robbed and beaten, and Erica is left for dead. And David's injuries turn out to be fatal.

As she recovers, Erica becomes frustrated by the seeming lack of headway in the police investigation and buys an illegal gun. She ends up using that weapon during confrontations in a convenience store and on the subway, which arouse the suspicions of NYPD homicide detective Sean Mercer (Howard), who's taken an interest in Erica's case.

The film's final 20 minutes suggests there may have been significant studio meddling here. There is an unrealistic, unbelievable twist that undoes everything director Neal Jordan and three credited screenwriters have been building toward for 90 minutes. And in doing so, the movie squanders one of Foster's best recent performances.

Foster is surprisingly effective in the early scenes, with her character nearly paralyzed by fear. And Howard's determined detective is just as interesting, though his "arc" ends badly.

"The Brave One" is rated R for strong scenes of violent action (shootings, beatings, vehicular mayhem and violence against women), strong sexual language (profanity, vulgar slang terms and other suggestive talk), gore and blood, simulated sex and other sexual contact, drug content (marijuana and painkiller use and references), brief female nudity, and slurs based on race and sexual preference. Running time: 119 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com