The Toronto International Film Festival just started a couple of days ago. The Oscar hunt has begun in earnest and the first beneficiary may be the star of a film no one thought too seriously about previously. Sure, Jodie Foster has won two Oscars, and director Neil Jordan has been honored for his work, but based on the description, The Brave One was written off by some alleged pundits for being a femme remake of Death Wish.
Now that the film is out, it looks like Jodie Foster may be one of the five actresses to be nominated for another Best Actress Oscar. Consider what Justin Chang in Variety wrote: “The Brave One convinces where it most counts, as Foster delivers a performance of astonishing physical and psychological credibility.” It will be interesting to see how the film plays for the public when it opens this Friday, soon after the release of Death Sentence which coincidentally was based on a book by Death Wish author Brian Garfield.
For those interested films involving girls with guns, let me recommend Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 as an earlier tale of urban revenge.
