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it is on an airplane (Flightplan) or as a secretive cover-up power player (Inside Man). In The Brave One, she is merely Jodie Foster struggling with loss and an overwhelming desire for vengeance. We appreciate her performance, but she also fails to create a character that we haven't seen before. Supporting actor Terrence Howard is still fresh and inventive, and his role tends to pull the spotlight away from Foster. So too does Nicky Katt, whose role is entirely comedy relief, but hilariously well-timed.

Hollywood has become infatuated with overwrought twists in movie conclusions, and while The Brave One offers little innovation in that department, the build-up and presentation of its story, combined with heartfelt performances, helps tip the scales back into favorable territory. Foster's tormented battle with her emotions is an intriguing one and though things might wrap up a little too neatly in the end, Jordan knows how much more satisfying it can be to let justice prevail (no matter how many laws one must break in doing so).

It's easy to root for such a strong female lead character, and Foster is no stranger to just such a role. With astonishing action and tense moral conflicts, whether or not Foster becomes the very thing she is out to abolish, she still knows how to be thoroughly entertaining as Jodie Foster.

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