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MOVIES OPENING
11TH HOUR The documentary fi lm explores
how we’ve arrived at this moment- how we
live, impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what
we can do to change. Featuring dialogues of
experts. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
DRAGON WARS A beautiful young woman possesses
the power to transform a legendary giant
serpent into an almighty dragon who can only
ascend into heaven with the woman’s ultimate
sacrifi ce. Rated PG-13
GOYA’S GHOSTS A sweeping historical epic
told through the eyes of celebrated Spanish
painter Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard). Set
against the backdrop of political turmoil at the
end of the Spanish Inquisition and the start of
the invasion of Spain by Napoleon’s army, the
fi lm captures the essence and beauty of Goya’s
work. Javier Bardem is Brother Lorenzo, an
enigmatic, cunning member of the Inquisition’s
inner circle who becomes infatuated with
Goya’s teenage muse, Ines (Natalie Portman),
when she is falsely accused of heresy and sent
to prison. Rated R
KING OF KONG: FISTFUL OF QUARTERS A
middle-school science teacher and a hot sauce
mogul vie for the Guinness World Record on the
arcade classic, Donkey Kong. Rated PG-13
THE BRAVE ONE Jodie Foster stars as a happy
woman whose life changes irrevocably after
a brutal assault leaves her partner (Naveen
Andrews) dead. Feeling that the police investigation
will be unable to catch the perpetrators,
she begins to live in constant fear. This outlook
results in her eventually dispatching vigilante
justice. Terrence Howard co-stars as the offi cer
in charge of the investigation. Rated R
MR. WOODCOCK John Farley, author of a bestselling
self-help book, returns to his hometown
to receive the community’s highest honor. While
there, John learns that his widowed mother,
Beverly, is engaged to Mr. Woodcock, the gym
teacher whose sadistic exploits were the bane
of John’s youth. Starring: Billy Bob Thornton,
Seann William Scott, Susan Sarandon, Kurt
Fuller, and Amy Poehler. Rated PG-13
NO END IN SIGHT The fi rst fi lm of its kind to
chronicle the reasons behind Iraq’s descent
into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality and
anarchy, ‘No End in Sight’ is a jaw-dropping,
insider’s tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness
and venality.
NOW SHOWING
3:10 TO YUMA A rancher struggles to support
his ranch and family during a long drought. He
takes an assignment to transport a notorious
felon in the hands of authorities to Yuma for imprisonment.
But, once the two meet, the criminal
tries to tempt him with cash in exchange for
6 september 13-19, 2007 | entertaining u newspaper
the accused meets death wish
The Brave One
BY RICK GRANT rickgrant01@comcast.net
A- Rated R 122 min
In the spirit of vigilante justice, as portrayed
by Charles Bronson in the 1974 fi lm Death Wish,
fi lmmaker Neil Jordan went beyond an eye-for-aneye
sensibility, into the dark, paranoid, post-9/11
consciousness. He framed his mosaic in dark tones
as his protagonist was forever changed by senseless
violence.
In Death Wish, Bronson played architect Paul
Kersey, who lost his wife when thugs murdered her.
In The Brave One, Jodie Foster plays Erica, a talk
show host who is similarly traumatized when she
and her fi ancé David (Naveen Andrews) are attacked
in Central Park by a trio of punks. They are viciously
beaten and terrorized, leaving David dead and Erica
seriously injured, physically and mentally.
Jodie Foster characterizes Erica with a combination
of her trademark post-traumatic stress rigidity,
similar to the rape victim she portrayed in The
Accused, and a vigilante justice-turned-to-bloodlust
that is unique to Erica. Once she kills, she can never
go back to the person she was before the incident.
Something inside her snapped and now she is a
dangerous loose cannon.
Erica continues her talk show, keeping her
vigilante acts secret, and callers pose the question:
Is the killer a vigilante, a hero, or a villain? Is it
justice or revenge? She forms a shaky relationship
with the cynical detective, Sean Mercer (Terrence
Howard), over David’s murder. Mercer also happens
to be investigating Erica’s vigilante episode. This odd
relationship is brilliantly acted by Foster and Howard.
On one hand, they’re kindred spirits, but in the harsh
reality of Mercer’s world, they are on opposite sides
of the law. Ultimately, Mercer must make a fateful
decision.
Like Bronson’s Paul Kersey, Erica goes looking
for trouble. Foster portrays Erica’s bloodlust like
a twisted sexual libido. Her low raspy on-air voice
sends shivers down viewers’ spines as she revels in
her new power. She would never again be a victim.
She would go on a preemptive strike against the
punks with black hearts. But where would it end?
She couldn’t possibly kill all the lowlifes who needed
killing. She was on a one-way mission to hell’s
battlefi eld.
Despite Erica’s trip into insanity, Foster’s subtle
acting doesn’t alienate the viewers who still identify
with her rage and need for vigilante justice. As the
subway vigilante Bernard Getz found out, there is
a price to pay for placing yourself in a vulnerable
position and luring the bad guys to your violent form
of justice. Once the vigilante starts shooting, bullets
fi nd the innocent as well as the guilty. In this instant,
mistakes are made and the vigilante is no different
than any other murderer.
Neil Jordan’s direction and Roderick Taylor’s
script ask what you would do? Is vigilante justice
ever justifi ed? Foster never loses the viewer’s vicarious
identifi cation. You will sympathize with her
throughout the movie and feel her new power. Foster
shows us how extreme trauma can cause a person
to take the law into their own hands, but she also
shows us the cost to her mental well-being. There is
a fi ne line between justice and revenge, and this fi lm
leaves Erica’s judgment to you.
Although this vigilante genre has all but exhausted
its ability to surprise us, it’s still a potent
dramatic platform to display a range of human emotions.
The horror of what Erica went through could
never be erased by her vigilante campaign. In fact,
she was becoming more like the thugs who beat
her. Her rage was tuning into evil. Yet, Foster made
Erica a hero to the frustrated victims of crime who
couldn’t strike back. It’s better to let Jodie Foster
take us on that vengeful trip than to attempt it in the
real world.