Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

This might turn out to be a great little character thriller, but that doesn’t change the fact that the end of this trailer sets off a laughing fit for me every time I see it. It’s just so very, very serious, and the line doesn’t really work. Maybe it’s different in context.

Anyway, here’s the first reader reaction we’ve gotten, sent in from what must have been one of the first screenings anywhere for it:

Hi Harry

long time reader first time contributor yadda yadda yadda

Excuse the stream of consciousness etc

Last night I went to a preview screening of Neil Jordan's new film " The Brave One" starring Jodie Foster and Terence Howard and thought you might be interested in my thoughts.

Going to see this I have to admit I had pretty low expectations. I was given a flyer by someone a couple of days before and since I was on holiday I thought what the heck. Not having seen the trailer I thought this was going to be a run of the mill thriller ala flight plan/ panic room and was fully prepared to walk out half way through if was too awful.

I wasn't aware that Neil Jordan was attached to this, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw his name in the starting credits.
There are probably a couple of spoilers in this report but if you see the trailer you'll probably have a pretty good sense of where the film is headed.
Without giving too much away the film is set in NYC and stars Jodie Foster as Erica Bane, a radio DJ. Erica has a show where she captures sounds of the city and interweaves it with her thoughts, so far so Radio Four (UK Radio Channel).

Erica is engaged to Naveen Andrews(Saeed from Lost) and they have lead a pretty wonderful life in their apartment off Central Park attending exhibitions of their glamorous friends and ordering orange and vanilla wedding invites.

Long story short they take the dog for a walk one evening in Central Park and are attacked by a gang and left for dead. The attack is pretty brutal and sets the tone for the for the rest of the film, we get a number of flashbacks to reinforce the point.

Erica gets out of hospital and now becomes terrified by the city she has always loved. Too scared to leave her apartment she finally does, and then by hook or by crook ends up with an illegal gun which she wants to protect herself with . Erica ends up in a minimarket and becomes embroiled in a violent domestic dispute which acts a tipping point for her to fight back against the city which has a hold over her. This leads to her becoming involved in a number of tense standoffs with individuals throughout the city, guess if she backs down or not? (Rocket scientists need not apply)

Terence Howard stars as Mercer, a cop who is on the case of the NY vigilante and becomes more and more involved with Erica and ultimately suspicious of her. It all comes together in a decent finale, the details of which it wouldn't be fair to spoil.

Strong performances from both Foster, who reprises the brittleness of her performance in the Accused and balances it with the increasing confidence of Linda Hamilton becoming a bad ass in Terminator 2, a woman on a mission. Howard( Crash) also turns in some good work and is very convincing as the cop tormented by his love for the law and it's inability to mete out justice when slick lawyers and process get in the way.

It came in at about 2 hours long and to be fair I didn't find myself looking at my watch during that time, this was engaging stuff.

Visually it reminded me of the New York of Spike Lee's Inside Man, post-Giuliani clean but grimy if that makes sense. The night time scenes reminded me of Taxi Driver and certainly some of the scenes were pretty visceral though without the seventies scarlet arterial spray. It paints New York as a pretty menacing place at night and should cause the NY Transit PR group a few headaches

It is a pretty intense experience and pretty brutal at time, kind of a mix of taxi driver and death wish I guess. The audience (about 250) seemed pretty engaged and there was cheering during certain scenes when people got their come uppance. I think people liked this although there is a part of me that found the cheering a little disturbing, too much like mob rule for my liking but maybe that is the question which Neil Jordan is asking of us.

There was the obligatory survey at the end and focus groups which I would have liked to contribute to but the pub was calling, man cannot live on nachos alone. Overall this was a good film and if I had paid for the ticket I would have been happy that I had got a good nights entertainment. My friend who is a not a big cinema person really liked it and was pleased he went.

I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't love this film, it looked great, had a decentish plot and strong performances. This is certainly not a meek film but maybe I'm just not ready for a death wish for the noughties.

You can call me Bonzo and it's nearly time for my bedtime