FilmReviews by hanuman :Jodie's terrific 'Brave One' slips in

Published on September 20, 2007

Running time: 122 minutes

Hanuman rating: HHHHH

Just its star, Jodie Foster, and director, Neil Jordan, are enough to pack in the fans everywhere else "Brave One" plays, but in Bangkok a meagre marketing campaign has ruined its box-office potential.

Add to its appeal the presence of Naveen Andrews - who stole the show as the turbaned hero in "English Patient" - and Terence Howard, the gifted star of "Hustle & Glow" and "Four Brothers". They should have helped make this movie a must-see for the local film buffs who are familiar with their credentials.

But where was the advertising when you needed it? After a week, most people still weren't even aware it was playing.

Still, it's not too late to catch it, and it's so good, even though its script is a tad weak.

And Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire" - which ranks as one of the best horror flicks ever made - "Mona Lisa" and "The Crying Game" are among this critic's favourite films.

Foster is essentially reprising Charles Bronson's "Death Wish", with much bravado. Viewers will be rooting for her as they did for Bronson as she goes hunting at night for nasty people. Jordan and Foster have updated the vigilante theme to a fine level that it will please both male and female viewers.

Foster, who has earned two Best Actress Oscars - for "The Accused" and "The Silence of the Lambs" - doesn't let you down. As in "Panic Room", her character is full of surprises.

Her most moving acting is in the first five minutes of the film (so don't be late), where she speaks with sadness about how the New York she knew as a child is fading away, even as more of the city is torn down for greed and profit. She's indirectly reminding us of Bangkok's own predicament.

As the star of a radio show called "Streetwalker", Foster describes what she sees, engaging her listeners, sometimes with a poetic narrative, always raw but caring.

Then violence comes into her life and she's changed.

A new "Streetwalker" emerges, one which her boss - played wonderfully by Mary Steenburgen - initially finds riveting, and eventually learns to respect, because the new character's voice is more resounding than ever, having seen the faces of evil.

Ironically, if Foster's character was in Bangkok, she would need to be more afraid of places like discos and trendy hang-outs where rich brats with influential parents kill with impunity, in much the same way the film's villains behave in Central Park and on subway trains.