The Brave One (2007)

Surviving a terrible trauma is one thing - figuring out who you've become afterward is another. Neil Jordan's somber "The Brave One" is many things at once. It's a thoughtful portrait of a crime victim's sense of disconnection and isolation from her own life after a horrific attack, and it will strike a chord with anyone who has experienced violence. It's also a provocative drama about the nature of justice, a subject American films revisit endlessly, usually finding the law lacking. Here, though, the conflict between gut-level vigilantism and legal procedure is handled with more care and complexity than usual. And finally, for all its seriousness, the film is still somewhat tied to the old crime-and-revenge formula, moving to the familiar "Death Wish" rhythm of an avenger seeking out one showdown after another with villains to gun down. Working somewhat at cross-purposes, the film stars Jodie Foster in a shattering, Golden Globe-nominated performance as Erica Bain, the host of a popular New York public radio show in which she muses on the sounds and stories of the city. Happily engaged to David (Naveen Andrews), a doctor, Erica is walking their dog with him in Central Park one night when they're savagely attacked by a gang of thugs. David is killed, and Erica survives, only to find herself a stranger in her own skin. Terrified to leave her apartment, she buys a gun, and soon finds herself confronting her fears by shooting violent criminals. As the city grows fascinated by the mysterious vigilante, Erica becomes the focus of Detective Sean Mercer (an excellent Terrence Howard), a cop worn down by his own struggle to protect innocent people from truly evil men, and the two form an uneasy friendship. Jordan's earlier films, including "The Crying Game" and "Breakfast on Pluto," echo the most intriguing idea here: that each of us harbors a hidden side that emerges under extreme circumstances, forcing us to question who we really are.