“That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die.”
-- Budd from Kill Bill: Vol. 2
“Just tell me one thing, Burke. You're going out there to destroy them, right? Not to study. Not to bring back. But to wipe them out.”
-- Ellen Ripley from Aliens
Jodie Foster comes full circle as Erica Bain in Neil Jordan’s revenge thriller, The Brave One. Erica Bain is the composite sketch of the many characters Jodie Foster has played since Taxi Driver. In some ways, Erica Bain is the female version of Travis Bickle, but that would be selling her short. Erica Bain and Travis Bickle are the observers of their eras. Erica is a popular radio host while Travis was a taxi cab driver. Each one saw and had their own takes on the New Yorker experience. Each has an attachment to this great city. While Travis Bickle lived with the fallout of the Vietnam War, Erica Bain lives with the fallout of 9/11. Erica Bain is a long way from Iris Steensma from Taxi Driver. De Niro was a different kind of beast in that film. Foster’s Bain does her deeds in a fearful manner at the beginning. The queen vigilante delivering the goods and cleaning up the streets of the New York City that she loves so much. The New York City she claims in voiceover narration is losing a piece of itself everyday. The voice narration gives the film a Taxi Driver feel. It is impossible for the film to escape it. In many ways, The Brave One is a valentine to New York City. Bain has some things in common with Death Sentence’s Nick Hume and Death Wish’s Paul Kersey—the law does not work for the average citizen. When the law the does not work or even worst in Bain’s case, is an endless waiting line, it is time to do the job yourself. In Erica Bain’s case, fear rips apart her soul and creates the NPR avenging angel.
Erica Bain survives a brutal attack at the beginning of the film. She and her fiancée, David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews) are walking their dog through Central Park one night. They are attacked by a gang of thugs who happen to videotape the heinous crime. David is killed and Erica is in a coma for three weeks. Waking from the coma, she has crossed the point of no return. Her world is different now. She lives in a constant state of fear whenever she walks the streets. The city she loves so much is now a series of nightmare alleys. The radio host feels unsafe in her own city. The Brave One manages to create a sense of fear that resembles post- 9/11 anxiety. Death Sentence kind of did this, but Foster’s Bain is the perfect metaphor for who we are in this strange time. She goes and buys a handgun illegally. The gun gives her a tool to deal with her fear and the results are what we expect. The gun is the great enabler. As time goes on, she gets less nervous using it and other weapons. She deals a fatal blow to two hoodlums on the subway. And for the audience, this is the start of a major catharsis for us. This is about cleaning up the streets, but it is also about striking back and taking control. Whether we like it or not, Bain is acting out for all of us. Jordan and screenwriters, Roderick and Bruce Taylor, have given us a shooting gallery of criminals for her to go after in the film. Speaking of Neil Jordan, this may be his most crowd pleasing film-- if that is the right phrase. After Breakfast on Pluto and The Good Thief, there seems to be a wide release desire in his heart. This may be his most commercial film since Interview with a Vampire. The Brave One lacks the cutting edge ferocity of his smaller films, but still packs a very mean mainstream punch.
The Brave One has one other thing going for it besides Jodie Foster; it is Terrence Howard’s portrayal of Detective Mercer. Howard seems to be able to do no wrong in my opinion. He sparks each role with his dynamic slow burn intensity. Hustle and Flow, Crash, The Hunting Party, Four Brothers and many other films which benefit from his charm and interactions with his costars. He has great chemistry with Foster’s Bain. Mercer is the policeman’s policeman. He believes in the law and its power. He and his partner, Detective Vitale (Nicky Katt) investigate the series of vigilante crimes. It must be noted that Katt’s Vitale is the film’s only comic relief. While at first it might seem out of place in such a somber film, you are thankful for Katt’s delivery. It gives the film some much needed humor. Mercer’s relationship with Bain is part of the film’s power. It seems that Bain is using Mercer to find out what a detective looks for at a crime scene. She is playing and using him throughout the film. Mercer is no fool; we get a sense that he suspects her as the vigilante in the film’s third act. As much as he respects the law, he must come to terms with the reality of the crime that Bain has survived-- only in the movies.
Many have claimed that Jodie Foster is not breaking new ground with her role as Erica Bain. In many ways The Brave One continues a post-Clarice Starling tradition for Jodie Foster. The Brave One is a variation on previous roles in Panic Room and Flightplan. No one wants to give her credit for playing against type in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, A Very Long Engagement or Inside Man? After The Accused, she could no longer play the victim and not triumph. I think her role in The Brave One owes more to the likes of Kill Bill’s Beatrix Kiddo and to Ellen Ripley in the Alien films. It is easy to say this is Death Wish, Dirty Harry and Taxi Driver with a female twist. Erica Bain is just the latest addition to women who have been wronged and decide to fight back and seek revenge. Foster’s mannerisms reminded me a lot of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Aliens more than anything else. Bain is in good company with The Bride and Ripley. The brutality of the crime against Erica and David is not comic book violence in the least. It is real and visceral. At first it is not revenge, but it is a wounded animal striking back. She is not always comfortable in her role as a vigilante. She does not have the addictive rush to killing that Kevin Costner possessed in Mr. Brooks earlier this year. She never learns to get rid of her fear. Her fear is always there, but the gun empowers her. The fear is always on the perimeter. We cannot go back to the way things were six years ago. Fear in America seems to the theme du jour at the multiplex this year.
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