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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 09/23/2007 : 10:47:49
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The Brave One
Sometimes it happens with a movie. Taken separately, most of the ingredients are terrific. The film raises interesting and relevant questions and addresses them intelligently, albeit a bit po-faced. And yet ...
The result is less than the sum of its parts. Why did I leave the cinema feeling so unfulfilled? I think it's got to do with levels of engagement and points of identification, yet these seem built in, almost inescapable with such themes.
I suspect the film will resonate far more deeply in America than elsewhere. As with several other recent vigilante movies [such as Death Sentence, and in a very different way - 3:10 To Yuma] which try to address the subject, The Brave One speaks primarily to a society which has not necessarily lost faith in law enforcement, but one which recognizes that due to arcane bureaucratic structures and lack of resources, even the best-hearted officers just cannot cope with a tidal wave of crime fueled by drugs and gang-culture trophy collections [iPods, bodies, whatever]. There are also wider metaphors of social wounds still stinging six years after the WTC tragedy -- mindless violence and how to deal with the rage it produces. Essays have already flooded cyberspace with analyses of 28 Days/Weeks Later in that very context.
This particular social malaise may not have permeated the rest of the world yet, but given the sociological lag, it's probably on its way.
So what's a "good person" to do? The Brave One of the title is Jodie Foster as Erica Bain [yes, names are significantly evocative: bain = bane]. In good screenplay style we get to know a lot about Erica very quickly -- well, we get to know the trappings of Erica, but actually we don't know very much about her as a person - we're invited, however, to make assumptions to justify what comes next.
She's got it all - great job as a radio talk jock reporting on street-level aspects of the NYC she adores - she quotes DH Lawrence and Emily Dickinson, revealing just how well-grounded she is for this kind of emotional reportage; she and adorable doctor fiance are planning their imminent wedding and share an lovely apartment and dog. It's when they take the dog for a walk in Central Park - where a comedian pal of mine says you can get mugged by a swan - that the "inciting incident" occurs.
An inciting incident is what those screen-writing teachers assure you is needed within the first 20 minutes of a film to grab your audience and underpin the structure of your story.
Without giving too much away - some brutalized, high, everything-to-prove bad-ass dudes - snatch the dog, beat the fiance to death, and leave Erica in a coma.
Her recovery, her determination to treat the resulting emotional trauma with vigilante vengeance, and her growing, mostly platonic relationship with the investigating officer provide the meat of the film.
It gets pretty meaty indeed and Foster - never less than good - here is terrific. Oscar has already been mentioned, and she's got to be a contender [she's also one of 4 exec producers, so is heavily invested in the film].
I never was. Not for a moment was I able to do what I always long for when watching a film - get involved in it, put myself into the action, get caught up in the story. Throughout I was all too aware, not only that I was watching a movie, but that the movie-watching room led outside to a different world that made more sense. The music didn't help, only pointing up the pretentiousness of some of the dialogue, the lack of three-dimensional characters, substituting a gallery of cliches which help build the contrivances of the story.
Yes, the film does raise very interesting questions, and very relevant ones. But please don't go to see it looking for answers or hoping for some Great Truth about human nature. Do go, however, for one of the most nuanced lead performances around.
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 10/05/2007 10:45:14 |
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 09/23/2007 : 14:49:04
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Erica Bain - rhymes with America pain.
SPOILERS.
The 9/11 stuff -- usually this type of thing exists in the subtext, but The Brave One brings it right into the open. It compares the main character's situation to anthrax scares and the Iraq war, like what, three times? This is a movie that wants to seem much smarter than it actually is.
This movie doesn't want to be another Death Wish or Dirty Harry. The law doesn't seem to be actually doing that badly in this movie. Erica is being threatened more in her head than anything, and I guess this movie wants to explore Erica's mindspace and what would drive her to vigilantism.
So this isn't a pro-vigilantism movie -- we see her writhing in guilt and horror over what she's become. It doesn't really make the shootings into big popcorn scenes like The Punisher or anything, it's all very serious. She isn't really empowered by it and she doesn't feel any better afterwards.
But it doesn't really condemn her murders. Every one of her victims is a worthless bag of scum and most were directly threatening her life. Yes, she could have avoided the situations and no, she didn't have to shoot to kill, but really, it doesn't stain our image of her is a righteous avenger, does it? The muggers' initial attack on her is horrifying and violent, Jodie's revenge killings are short and sweet, so there's no real parallels there. There are no real consequences for any of Jodie's actions either, except a few dead bad guys. She gets off scot-free, with a major side character purposefully miscarrying justice so that she can walk away without learning anything. So if this movie isn't pro-vigilantism or anti-vigilantism, what is it?
It's nothing at all. Let me just say it, I flat out hated this movie. Hated it. It's too pretentious to be a fun action movie, and as an anti-violence statement, it's pathetic. Apparently the only reason that violence is bad is because it will make some rich white woman feel bad in the morning. Neil Jordan has showed a surprising and appalling lack of guts this time around, though I suspect this was just a paycheck film for him (no gay or Irish people is usually the tipoff) and that Foster was largely pulling the strings. |
Edited by - MisterBadIdea on 09/23/2007 14:50:03 |
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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 09:48:54
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Bafta, please could you change the header to indicate major spoilers, because of M.B.I.'s post above and mine below?
I found that this film pretty much is pro-vigilantism. Sure, it doesn't say that vigilantism doesn't come with any emotional baggage, but it is not condemned in the slightest, in particular by the outcome in the plot. 
The moment she starts on her vigilante course is also ridiculous. She is kept waiting in a police station (not sure how realistic this is for relatives of murder victims - would not happen in Britain nowadays and I'd be surprised if America were different, even with there being far more murders) and so goes straight out and buys an illegal handgun! |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 10:47:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
Bafta, please could you change the header to indicate major spoilers, because of M.B.I.'s post above and mine below?
Done!
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 14:46:26
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If we accept the premise that this is a pro-vigilantism movie, then it's a pretentious load of garbage. The Brave One isn't bad just because of its muddied moral stance -- it's also really fucking boring.
The reason I said I didn't know whether it was pro-vigilantism or anti-vigilantism is because it makes motions towards both but doesn't justify either of them. One critic I respect basically explained the conflict as the perception of being threatened vs. the reality of a fairly safe city (Post-Giuliani NYC is hardly a cesspool of crime, even in the movie). The fact is, I guess we do have to conclude that it supports what Jodie Foster does, but it doesn't come close to justifying that position. The cops FOUND the killer and she CHOSE not to prosecute, dammit! |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 15:23:11
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| Yup, sorry, I didn't mean that the makers had taken a pro-vigilantism stance as a philosophical decision - I just meant that I can only interpret the support you mention as defining it thus. I took for granted that the film would not have been able to justify such a stance since no such justification is possible. |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 15:41:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
Yup, sorry, I didn't mean that the makers had taken a pro-vigilantism stance as a philosophical decision - I just meant that I can only interpret the support you mention as defining it thus. I took for granted that the film would not have been able to justify such a stance since no such justification is possible.
Yeah, but you really get the feeling they would love to!
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The Brave One - spoilers
