The Brave One

Directed by: Neil Jordan

Memorable quotes:

Thug: "Hey man, don't you know there is a fucking leash law? Don't you fucking know better?
David Kirmani: Yeah, I'm sorry, thanks for finding him.
Thug: Ah, it's all good bro, it's all good. But I got a reward or some?
David Kirmani: Our gratitude. Now, give him to me."

Woman at the hospital: They didn't know when you were going to wake up, if you were going to wake up. You were gone for three weeks. We had to let him go, we had to.

Detective O'Connor: "Look, Miss Bain, we're on your side.
Erica Bain: Yeah, I know that, you're the good guys. How come it doesn't feel like it?"

Erica's friend: "You shouldn't smoke, it will kill you.
Erica: I don't care.
Erica's friend: There are plenty of ways to die. You have to figure out a way to live. Now, that's hard."

Detective Mercer: "What's wrong with Mercer?
Detective Vitale: Everything. Divorce sucks."

Carol: "Erica, you've been through so much. You need more time before you put yourself out there.
Erica: Don't make me beg.
Carol: I don't mean to. But we have a public, and I'm not sure you're ready for it.
Erica: Are you telling me I can't work because of what happened to me?
Carol: I did not say that.
Erica: Look, I just need to keep living. You know, I don't wanna... I don't want to disappear"

Erica: "You know, I always believed that fear belonged to other people; Weaker people. It never touched me. And then it did. And when it touches you, you know that it's been there all along. Waiting beneath the surfaces of everything you loved. And your skin crawls and your heart sickens, and you look at the person you once were, walking down the street, and you wonder: will you... will you ever be her again?"

Carol: You got eleven more steps, do you? Are they all gonna be on the air?

Detective Mercer: "You know, it was disturbing, it really was. I mean, you were gone, and to see somebody, that can't see you... but you're back now.
Erica: Yeah, I'm back now.
Detective Mercer: Lots of people don't make it back.
Erica: I know that.
Detective Mercer: I know you do."

Detective Mercer: "It's amazing what a dead body can tell you.
Erica: So, the dead talk?
Detective Mercer: Oh yeah, everybody talks. And almost everybody lies. The dead can't. Then again, lies can tell you things too, because people tell them for a reason."

Detective Mercer: How did you pull it back together after what happened to you?
Erica: You don't.
Detective Mercer: I'm sorry...
Erica: No, it's a fair question. You...you become someone else. A stranger.

Erica: I walk the streets at night now. I find places and things I never knew existed. But am I finding them, or are they finding me?

Guy in the car: "Oh my, got us a super cunt here.
Erica: Open the doors.
Guy in the car: And if I don't?
Erica: Then I'll be the last super cunt you'll ever see."

Erica: There is no going back to that other. She's gone. This thing, this stranger, it's all you are now.

Detective Mercer: "All this time we've been looking for a guy with a gun, it was a woman with a grudge.
Erica: Well, I guess there is a lot of us out there."

Detective Mercer: "Hey, I wonder what David would think of...
Erica: Would think of what?
Detective Mercer: This woman, with a grudge.
Erica: I don't know. The dead don't talk. At least not to me."

Erica: "What did she look like?
Pawn shop owner: She had two eyes; a mouth, and a nose, right in the middle of her face." 

Erica: There is no going back to that other person, that other place. This thing, this stranger. She is all you are now.

Plot: Erica Bain and David Kirmani are a regular couple. He works at a hospital, she is a radio host. One night, the two lovebirds walk their dogs in a park, and it go free. When it fails to return, David and Erica are soon confronted to a group of thugs, asking for money in exchange for their dog. When David refuses to pay, the thugs beat him to death, and leave Erica in a poor state. Erica still wakes up at the hospital three weeks later, and is told the terrible news: her lover is dead, there is no sign of her dog, and the police has no leads on who attacked them. Feeling abandoned, Erica starts a path of revenge.

Review:

The Brave One is an absolutely astonishing movie. It had been a long time since I had watched such a heartbreaking and moving story. Jodie Foster is just perfect for the part, and as usual, her acting is unbelievable. I think that it's safe to say that she's truly one of the greatest actresses of our time. I was so impressed by her performance, and yet I know that I should have expected it from her, considering how great she's been in every single movie I've seen her in. She also forms a great duo with Terrence Howard. Both of them are absolutely fantastic.
Apart from her being great for the role, the script is amazing. It's also so accurate. I'm pretty sure that everyone can recognize themselves in Erica. I mean, who never thought that justice would be done better if we could do it ourselves? Considering the high number of crimes, and the fact that the sentences always seem too light- if the criminals are judged that is-who never dreamed of taking matters into their own hands and make the problem disappear?
What I thought was fantastic, was how real this movie was, versus being manichean. Here, the murderer is someone you feel for, someone you understand, someone you want to live and get away with what they've done. You know that person have suffered, and that they never got any sort of justice. I was so scared that at the end, Erica would somehow die, either by being shot or by killing herself, or that she would be thrown in jails, a place where she didn't belong. I was thus absolutely satisfied by the ending. I mean, it couldn't have been better.
I think that what the movie highlights is the inability of the law to do justice. The detective Mercer shows this ambiguity. He works for the law. He devotes his life to make his country a better place. Yet, he admits that his power is limited. He can only follow some rules, and if they are not enough to catch a bad guy, then there is nothing he can do, at least not according to the law. The fact that he chooses to let Erica go at the end, and even help her, is a sign that he knows he was powerless in her case, but wanted her to have justice. She needed revenge for all she'd been through. She needed revenge for a dead companion. She needed revenge for her former life, for the person she once was and is forever gone. I think that the detective knew that the police/the law couldn't give her back any of that, but at least he could try to repair an injustice. He had probably seen too much already, but this time he just couldn't let it go, for the pain of the woman standing in front of his eyes would never go away.
I wouldn't say that the movie encourage people to do justice by themselves, but I think that it just points out the fact that things are never black or white. We live in a shade of grey, and sometimes the law cannot adapt to that particular mixture of two radical colours. I mean, even the title reflects this ambiguity. Despite Erica's action, she's still considered being brave, for she is brave.
I would recommend this movie to everyone. The dialogues are absolutely amazing, and the main characters are stunning. A must see!

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