An exciting film if you're a ‘Brave One'

"Why don't my hands shake?" says Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) after shooting two men who assault her on a subway in "The Brave One." Though Erica may remain stoic through killing scenes, the audience is constantly trembling through the psychological thriller.

When the movie opens, Erica is a radio talk show host in New York with hardly a care in the world other than what color her wedding invitations should be. As she and her scruffy-but-sweet fiancé, David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews, known for his role on the hit TV show "Lost") are walking their dog late at night, they are attacked by a group of drunken men jump out from behind the tunnel and attack them.

The attack scene is executed brilliantly, shots juxtaposed with a shaky view coming from a camera that one of the attackers is holding. Both cameras hastily switch views as Erica and David are beaten by different members of the gang. The setting in a tunnel creates a warped feeling that adds to the panic. The only flaw in this part of the film is that it never becomes clear why one of the men is filming the assault.

The tragic night leaves David dead, and Erica spends an unspecified amount of time in her room mourning her fiancé's loss and hiding from the outside world. Her fear is so real that it spreads to the audience, who can nearly taste her panic as she walks down a dark hallway toward a mysteriously bright light from outside the front door of her apartment building, her fingers somehow unable to turn the doorknob. When she finally goes outside, the streets are overwhelmingly bright and she is trapped by a constant fear that someone is following her. Desperate to protect herself, Erica illegally buys a gun.

Although Foster portrays Erica's devastation and post-traumatic paranoia in a way that is very real, what becomes unrealistic about the movie is that Erica immediately and repeatedly finds herself in situations where she needs to use the gun to defend herself. She witnesses a grocery store robbery by an armed burglar ready to kill her and not long afterwards is assaulted on a subway. However unrealistic, the immediacy of the incidents is certainly frightening.

In between the freakish incidents, Erica meets with the hardworking and kind Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), who is working on her case. She interviews him for her talk show about his work, which has recently become focused on identifying the killer behind the mysterious slayings of the supermarket robber and men who harassed late-night subway riders. Mercer confesses his frustration with the limits of the law, explaining that due process sometimes prevents him from putting criminals to justice. Erica asks him if his hands have ever shaken when he did shoot a criminal, and he tells her that they did not because he was on the side of the law.

Erica's talk shows become darker, reflecting on Mercer's comments and asking whether someone out there might be stepping over the lines that the law forbids Mercer to cross. She personalizes her show by drawing on memories of the night David died, claming that such trauma changes a person forever. Anybody, including a victim, can become a killer, she says.

Erica's message is a somewhat annoyingly blunt giveaway of the movie's theme, and it doesn't completely apply. Foster, with her cold demeanor right from the happy beginning of the film, is not "anybody." Foster's facial features and expressions are too hardened to shock the audience when she shoots people.

Still, Foster does manage to engage the audience throughout the film as she plays the role of both protagonist and, through Erica's talk show, observer. Erica demonstrates to the audience the reality of crime in the "safest big city in the world." Her reflections may scare viewers away from New York or even going out anywhere at night. Still, "The Brave One" is a captivating thriller worth seeing.

"The Brave One" (119 minutes, area theaters) is rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality.