The Brave One

Day 1 at the Toronto International Film Festival started with a bang.

My first scheduled film, the world premiere of “The Brave One” opened the festival for me at the Ryerson theatre. You could feel the excitement in line as ticketholders waited over an hour in advance for great seats (at the Ryerson, there are no bad ones). One thign that is unique and often surprising to featival newcomers is how friendly the people in line are. They’re huge movie fans, some of them having attending the festival for more than 20 years, and others who are here for the first time. Everyone loves to chat and compare film schedules, discuss directors, and regale eachother with celebrity encounters.

Passing the red carpet on the way into the theatre, illuminated by the flashbulbs of photographers, autograph seekers, and the glaring lights of TV cameras, the cast, director, and producer, made their way through the gamut.

Jodie Foster, so incredibly beautiful in real life that the camera really doesn’t do her justice, and Terrence Howard, a relative newcomer thanks to “Crash” and “Hustle & Flow” stopped to wave at fans who had lined up to greet them. No official question and answers session before the film (a regular appearance on first-run movie premieres at TIFF), TIFF co-director Noah Cowan was on hand to introduce the producer of the film, Joel Silver and his partner, director Neil Jordan, Jodie Foster, and Terrence Howard. Jordan is a regular at TIFF, and I caught his last film, “Breakfast on Pluto” in 2005. Foster hasn’t made an appearance since her 1991 film, “Little Man Tate.” The crowd was very welcoming and the talent on stage seemed to really apprieciate it.

After the usual security warnings and acknowledgment of the infared goggle carrying security at the front of the theatre, the film was rolling.
“The Brave One” tells the tale of Erica Bain (Foster), a talk radio host who has her life shattered when she and her husband-to-be (Naveen Andrews of Lost) are brutally attacked by a gang of thugs in a park. Waking up from a coma with her fiance dead, Erica is paralyzed by her fear- a former shell of her previous self. Arming herself with a gun, she takes to the streets and, in a matter of words, takes the law into her own hands, hunting down the scum of society as a way to cleanse her own demons. Investigating this rash of vigilante crimes, Det. Mercer (Howard) crosses paths with Erica, as a friend and saviour.

A number of disturbing images, the film is quite graphic at times. Foster effortlessly glides between the emotionally devestated and heartbroken Erica and the in control vigilante Erica. She is commanding on screen and hammers home a knock-out performance, as per usual. Howard holds his own as the sensitive detective, and doesn’t let Foster steal his thunder on screen. Neil Jordan’s directing style is fluid with his usual off-kilter shots to make things itneresting as the inner turmoil of the characters is displayed on screen.
All around, a tense thriller that delivers as much story and identifiable characters as it does action.