BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: "Why don't they stop me?" Erica Bain wonders. Bain, a popular New York radio host, watched her fiance die and nearly lost her own life to a vicious, random attack. Now she discovers a stranger within herself, an armed wanderer in the urban night, out for vengeance and at war with her own soul. Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster as Erica joins oscar nominee Terrence Howard as a determined cop hot on her trail. Erica's future is uncertain but one thing is not: The Brave One is a high-tension thriller that packs a visceral and emotional punch.

FILM REVIEW: A lot of elements in "The Brave One" are actually unique for the revenge film, least of all being that the lead character not only knows that what she's doing is wrong but that she is starting to hate herself for it. As played by Jodie Foster, Erica Bain is a woman at war with her own soul as she wanders through the night, knocking off bad guys who most would think actually deserved it; it plays to a primal instinct in all of us to take an eye for an eye, but in our supposedly more enlightened society, an intelligent person should be able to overcome these primal instincts. It's fascinating ground to cover and director Neil Jordan makes an amicable attempt to humanise and give depth to essentially what could have been another 'Death Wish' clone but unfortunately, due to two questionable casting decisions and a somewhat detached approach to the style of filmmaking, "The Brave One" never emotionally resonates as it should despite the potentially powerful scenes to watch in this film.

Erica Bain is a successful New York radio host who is in love and about to be married. One night as they're walking through the park, a group of hoodlums viciously (and that's the only way to describe it), attack the couple, beating her fiance to death and leaving her in a coma for three weeks. She wakes to discover that her partner has already been given a funeral and that everything about her life has now changed; she sees a stranger in the mirror that she never recognised before. A stranger that brings her to commit some otherwise incomprehensible acts that see her emerge as a tough, brutal vigilante. Investigating the trail of death she leaves behind is a tough New York detective who comes to see her side of the story and allows her to complete her mission of finding out where the people who did to her live so she can hunt them down like animals and put them out of commission.

Jodie Foster, as expected, gives a wonderful, three-dimensional performance as Erica. She really plays the role with a lot of internal conflict, indecision, brutality and humanity. Ultimately she is the glue that holds the whole film together. The sequences showing her talk show are particularly effective, especially after the attack when she starts to give some haunting descriptions about what it's like to be afraid in a place you took for granted for so long.

Less successful, are the two actors chosen to play the significant male leads in this story. The first is Terence Howard as Detective Mercer, who for some reason, just doesn't carry any weight or presence in his part, and doesn't really have much chemistry with Foster. The second is her fiance David, played by Naveen Andrews, who again doesn't seem to have any real chemistry with Foster (even with his short lack of screen time) and doesn't really demonstrate a strong presence; if it were not for Foster's reactions to both of them in her performance, all of their scenes together would have been quite flat. This may not be the actors' fault, it seems more a case of mis-casting. As it is, with Foster driving the scenes, it works better than what it otherwise might have but ultimately you have a film that just doesn't pack the emotional punch you might have expected because you're not seeing it in the actors.

For the most part, the images in this film are beautifully rendered and detailed, showing the darker parts of New York and bringing out a side to its character that is much more ominous. However, there are several scenes where the camera tilts from left to right where Erica is walking on the street alone which are meant to demonstrate her changed reality and her new ultra-sensitivity to ever little sound and movement around her which seemed over the top and downright annoying, especially in some moments where the cameras achieves an almost 90 degree tilt (of in other words, makes the ground parallel to the widest part of the picture). When these scenes first start to show up they're effective but over the course of the film they just become downright irritating.

In addition to the mis-casting, another problem is the direction itself, which doesn't seem to really set up the emotional investment in the character of Erica Bain and her plight. The first act is rather short, hurtling towards the bashing scene very quickly and before you know it we're already in vigilante mode. Given that the filmmakers were trying to do something different with this story, perhaps more could have been done here because without the right kind of emotional setup, especially in a film with this kind of plot, you really won't get in to the rest of the film. Having said that however, Neil Jordan does deserve a lot of credit in actually bringing a more intelligent sensibility to the material. "The Brave One" has moments exploring the meaning of what Erica has turned in to; we explore her psyche and pathos which allows the film to give some explanation as to how any one of us, no matter how benign, could become a vicious killer.

A solid film let down by two questionable casting choices and direction that gives you no emotional access to the lead character.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The video transfer is spot on; the colours are rich and vibrant, without any hint of mpeg or film artefacts. The soundtrack is particularly effective - the sequences where Erica Bain kills people are brilliant rendered - the gun shots in particular are mixed in such a way as to impart the power and meaning of her actions. A well produced disc.

EXTRAS REVIEW: There is a solid 22-minute documentary on the making of the film which covers most aspects of the production and provides some genuine insight in to the making of the film. Jodie Foster in particular is quite upbeat and enthused with the story on offer here as she describes how she got involved with it. We also have interviews with director Neil Jordan, the producers and other cast members, making for a decent, if not comprehensive making-of documentary. In addition to the doco we get a selected of deleted scenes which once you see them you know why they weren't in the film. Overall, it's a good extras package but nothing special.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it.