For the second time in less than a month, the vigilante film gets a new spin with the arrival of &#8220The Brave One.”

While &#8220The Brave One” does manage to be better than the laughably bad Kevin Bacon film &#8220Death Sentence” (which covers similar material), this isn’t anything more than a dopey &#8220Death Wish” rip-off that manages to almost be passable thanks to two incredibly talented leads – Jodi Foster and Terrence Howard.

Foster plays Erica Bain – a New York radio personality about to marry a successful doctor named David (Naveen Andrews).

Those plans are tragically altered when Erica and David are brutally attacked – with Erica left in a coma. When Erica finally wakes up, she learns that David didn’t survive – leaving her confused and unable to cope with the loss.

Erica’s sadness quickly turns to anger and she decides to take the law into her own hands and seeks revenge on the men responsible for David’s death.

Foster is such a good actress that it is easy for the audience to become emotionally attached to her character. Erica’s descent from mild-mannered wife-to-be to cold-hearted killer is fascinating and nearly makes up for the rest of the movie’s flaws.

Howard is also very good as a cop that befriends Erica. It’s a role that could easily have been an afterthought, but Howard and Foster have great chemistry and it really elevates the film.

Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to overcome a somewhat weak script by Roderick and Bruce A. Taylor. There are too many instances where the characters are way too smart to overlook some simple things that would bring the entire film to a screeching halt.

I also have a major problem with the ending – which is an obvious attempt to send the audience home happy, but is just too implausible to be taken seriously.

Give Foster and Howard credit, they prove that they are capable of making any film better than it should be. They’re just not good enough to make this any better than mediocre.

‘The Brave One’

Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard

Director: Neil Jordan

Rating: R for strong violence,

language and some sexuality

Playing at: Great Escape 12,

Highland Cinemas (Glasgow)

Grade: C

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is &#8220Knocked Up” (B) – writer/director Judd Apatow’s follow-up to the 2005 hit &#8220The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” which only confirms what &#8220Virgin” first suggested – Apatow is a very talented man.

The premise of &#8220Knocked Up” is simple. Ben (Seth Rogan) is a mid-20s fun-loving stoner slacker who meets Alison (Katherine Heigl), a career-minded young woman, one night in a bar. The unlikely couple have a one night stand that goes nowhere.

But eight weeks later, she discovers she’s pregnant, forcing Ben and Alison to both re-examine their lives and potential relationship.

&#8220Knocked Up” works thanks in large part to a strong cast and Apatow’s ability to stretch a seemingly razor-thin premise into a well-developed (OK, maybe too developed) final product.

Rogan, one of Steve Carrell’s friends in &#8220Virgin,” continues to establish himself as a delightful comedic actor, but also shows a soft side that helps make the romance a little more believable.

Heigl helps make the premise more believable, too, with a solid performance as the film’s voice of reason. She doesn’t really get many comedic moments in &#8220Knocked Up,” but she proves more than capable of holding her own with the rest of the cast.

The supporting cast is outstanding as well, especially Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd as Alison’s sister and brother-in-law, who are constantly at each other’s throats.

Apatow’s screenplay is sharp, with plenty of wit and funny banter. But that also proves to be the one major problem with &#8220Knocked Up.”

The film is well over two hours long and there is a stretch – especially in the middle third – where the film includes random scenes that almost feel like they should have been part of the DVD’s deleted outtakes (which are included). But that’s easy to overlook because, honestly, most of the time those scenes are very funny.

If Apatow could have found a way to trim the material just a bit, &#8220Knocked Up” could have been a great comedy. As it stands, it’s still very good – good enough to increase the Apatow fan base that was already pretty large after &#8220Virgin.”

&#8220Knocked Up” is rated R for sexual content, drug use and language and will be available on DVD on Tuesday.