Jodie Foster, who earned an Oscar nomination 32 years ago for playing a child prostitute in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, plays a more cultured character in The Brave One, an illegitimate heir to that incendiary mid-1970s masterpiece. Here she's a radio personality who reports poetically on the changing face of New York until her own face is beaten to a pulp.

Then the whole thing turns into trash with flash.

The Brave One (Warner Bros.) Starring Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard. Directed by Neil Jordan. Rated R. Time 122 minutes.

Online

Watch a preview and see more photos of The Brave One at baltimoresun.com/braveone