the brave one seem to indicate that the main character and of course and be brave . i would disagree . the more brave thing to do in a situation like the one that happen to her get brutally beat along with her fiancée who doesn not live another day from it be to go after the criminal without resort to a total distorted view of society . jodie foster character and erica and be a radio personality who niche be walk the street and record what go on . be give no real depth aside from he have someone she love and he die and the police do not pursue it and she get a gun and yada yada yada and she get somewhat but not really involve with the lead detective into the character and and so be leave with something leftover from past movie represent the vigilante code of justice and where take the power in one own hand be all there be . but be never too sure if erica be sane or not and if the filmmaker take a position one way or another ( that be until the end and which be such a stupid message to take anyway and dog include a overbear metaphor ) and while make the new york city of today and which have become significantly safe than and say and twenty year ago and look like you will get knife or beat if you go down just the right alley or just sit alone on a subway car . there could even be a somewhat good movie in the midst of all of this perhaps just in the undercooked subplot with terence howard detective and who be involve in some custody battle of a child that isn not his and a woman who he not link to and a step father who and i do not know what aside from own park lot and be a bad dude but be leave to a script that both ham fisted and disjoint with logic . it become laughable and for example and to see that at first the logical side of erica unable to really shoot properly and as see in her first shooting in a convenience store at the convenient moment of a robbery of a wife by the husband and then give way to the illogical of her crack shot at shoot at a pimp drive a car head on at her and kill him and duck just in time to not get run over . it doesn not help that jordon style with the camera become a little more than insufferable represent it call a stedi cam for a reason and not because it can weave in and out . ironically and the script and direction become very good and or rather work the best they can under the desired circumstance represent when look at the actual beating scene under the bridge and caught between a video tap point of view by one of the criminal by the regular film cam in a pace that be perfectly disorient . and when erica first come back on the air to her radio show and and she freeze up try to do her old shtick and and speak out a from the heart about how afraid she be this scene and from foster performance and to the clear direction and script and be the best scene in the film . but aside from that and there just a lot of posture into a psychology that flimsy represent be she a de niro in taxi driver or a bronson in death wish . we have her narration over scene and some of it doesn not have to do at all with her radio show and observe how disgusted she be with walk around at night and nothing to do but her self impose task of clean up the street . but unlike death wish and a movie that hold more ambiguity and never hold an answer at the end in a revenge scenario and the path of endless violence just heed to a message and one that would not be news to anyone who see a second of lifetime movie of the week melodrama . the actor make do with what give and and in the end it become much more frustrating try to stay with the anticipate and the hackneyed plot turn and and the plain old inexplicable ( plus the unintentionally hilarious and like a few expletive shout by howard after get shot in one scene ) and and the temptation to walk out grows strong and strong . it a very problematic picture and with only a few moment of genuine interest and clear head convention bending .