Classic Movie Review: The Brave One (with Jodie Foster) redux!

[LateForLunch]

Man. I saw that flick again this evening. Got it from the library. Watched it with my housemate who hadn't seen it before. She was riveted and to be honest so was I.

It had been years since I'd seen it and I'd forgotten  most of it, so it was sort of like watching it for the first time.

Jodie really pulled it off. Both the character and being straight. You really believed that she loved her male fiancée - not even a trace of gay in that performance.

She got a Golden Globe nomination for best actress and earned it - not so much for the heterosexual part, but for the multi-layered character. The black actor who portrayed the detective was also terrific.

The film only broke even at the box office, so that means it lost money, but it ranks as one of my top films of all time. It's right up there as a vigilante movie with Dirty Harry, Death Wish I and II, The Evil That Men Do and Man On Fire. What I liked about it was the realism of the character Foster played and the fact that she was not a wimp.

If you've never seen it, know someone who hasn't seen it or haven't seen it for awhile go get it and watch it this holiday season. I and my housemate found it cathartic. Wimpy people who have never experienced great personal loss or seen the worst of the world of lowlifes up close and personal cannot relate.

Foster took a lot of shi*t from the  far left for making that movie. They were all like, "WTF Jodie !?! We thought you were one of US!!!"

heh heh You. Thought. Wrong.

[NavyCanDo]

Was a good movie but be careful calling a movie made in 2007 a classic movie. Makes us old farts who appreciate true classic movies feel far older that we should.

[geronl]

"classic" OMG

It was a middling movie. Nothing very special about it, revenge dramas are old hat and there are a lot of them. Halfway through I still expect the review to be comedy.

[LateForLunch]

"classic" OMG

It was a middling movie. Nothing very special about it, revenge dramas are old hat and there are a lot of them. Halfway through I still expect the review to be comedy.

Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. Even if it's wrong. heh

Seriously though, it is a classic in the genre. Some people don't like that sort of movie. Many people didn't like Dirty Harry or the Death Wish series, Man on Fire or the Evil That Men Do movies either. It's a matter of taste.

And since Jodie Foster got a Golden Globe nom for Best Dramatic Performance I'd say that you may be in the minority opinion on the quality of the film Geronl! I and most others I have asked said that they thought her performance was magnificent (as usual) and so was Terence Howard's as the principle detective. Many people who know believe that Foster would have gotten a Best Actress Oscar nom except that the movie was hated by anti-gun nuts and leftists in general and they are heavily represented in Academy membership - so she had no chance of getting the nomination because of their bias against the film for ideological reasons.

May I ask what sort of movies do you consider classic, Geronl !?! 

[LateForLunch]

Was a good movie but be careful calling a movie made in 2007 a classic movie. Makes us old farts who appreciate true classic movies feel far older that we should.

hah hah I hear ya!

To be sure, the definition has probably changed. 'Used to be that the term referred to much older movies going back decades. But since H-Wood and other venues started releasing literally thousands of movies per year (last year I think there were around 1,500 new films produced by H-Wood with about a fifth of them actually going into wide release and the rest directly to video) time ain't now but like they used to be!

These days the term "classic" tends to refer more to the quality of the film. If it is likely to be viewed and appreciated by future generations. Sometimes one cannot easily predict which films will become classics that are still popular decades later.

It's a Wonderful Life for instance, was not very popular when it came out, but acquired classic status after years and years of being viewed first in theaters on a seasonal-release basis and later as the same on T.V.

It also didn't hurt the longevity of It's Wonderful Life to have the actor voted most popular of all time (Jimmy Stewart) in the leading role. 

Jodie Foster is becoming an iconic figure and I think this film's chances for vital longevity will benefit from her presence in the leading role. If she thought the movie was worth doing, maybe it deserves serious consideration (especially since it was done in a period of her career when she was being fairly choosy about her roles).