The vigilante movie demands villains without a shred of decency and a hero who won’t blink an eye when he blows them away.
Everything else is just a bonus, which is why casting Michael Caine in “Harry Brown” instantly elevates the material beyond mere pulp.
Caine, hovering in his late 70s, is an odd choice to play a vigilante even if vague echoes of “Gran Torino” swirl around the project.
But this sharp British import reminds us danger doesn’t care about the numbers on your birth certificate.
Harry Brown (Caine) lives in a neighborhood overrun by drug dealers, thugs and others with zero respect for law and order.
That doesn’t matter much to Harry, who is too busy visiting his sick wife than watching his neighborhood decay. But when she finally passes, and Harry’s best friend is slaughtered by the local thugs, Harry decides its time to fight back.
This former Marine hasn’t forgotten how to kill, even if emphysema and old age make every movement a struggle.
The local law enforcement in the form of a jittery Emily Mortimer suspects ol’ Harry might be behind the dwindling thug population. But how could this wheezy old man take a bite out of crime?
Caine makes Harry into a thoughtful killer, a man whose humanity isn’t extinguished even while he pumps the bad guys full of lead. But his transformation from sedentary senior to killing machine is too sudden, too hurried for the film’s own good.
The story also fails to develop the relationship between Harry and Mortimer’s character, something which becomes painfully obvious during the film’s waning moments.
But Caine proves magnetic as a man who can no longer stand by while his neighbors endure a nonstop wave of thuggery. Harry discusses his military background with great pain early in the film, as if it’s a side of his life he’d rather leave behind.
The local goon squad won’t let that happen.
“Harry Brown” doesn’t flinch in portraying the assorted drug dealers, rapists and killers as people without redeeming qualities. One harrowing sequence smack dab in the middle of a drug den is the most unforgettable moment on screen this year.
The film can’t be bothered to flesh out their characters beyond one interrogation scene, so when they’re staring down the barrel of Harry’s gun there’s little emotional pay off – just the kinetic sense of justice being served.
Not that there’s much wrong with that in the fishbowl of the vigilante template.
“Harry Brown” hews close to the genre’s trappings, but Caine’s grounding presence makes the movie far more compelling than the recent “Death Sentence” or even “The Brave One.”
The film’s refusal to treat its hero as anything but an old soldier fighting one last battle is more than enough to recommend it.
(Photo: Michael Caine plays a widower who decides to clean up his crime-ridden town in “Harry Brown.”)
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This movie is in very limited distribution. It’s presently showing only at an art house near where I live. Does anyone know if it’s going to be widely released?
It likely depends on how well it does in limited release. It’s not playing here in Denver, and we have five solid indie theaters to choose from.
I’ll try to keep readers posted if the film opens wider in the weeks to come.
I have no idea why they have little faith in this film. Caine is a draw, and so is the subject. Didn’t they see the money raked in by “Gran Torino?”
Just looking at that photo, I’m reminded of Edward Woodward’s “The Equalizer.” Though that 80s-era TV show wasn’t strictly in the “vigilante” genre — Woodward’s character rarely, if ever, dispatched the baddies — the general theme is similar: Old man takes on young thugs.
I’m looking forward to seeing this film, even if I have to wait for it to show up on Netflix.
A couple of days ago I heard Hugh Hewitt praise the film while doing some hand-wringing re: religious culture in Britain. He was commiserating with a guest who is very familiar with the ‘hooligan’ culture in Great Britain.
Sounds like the film depicts that, but is there much else that recommends it? From your review, it doesn’t sound like it has much more going for it than Bronson’s ‘Death Wish’ series. Those films are pretty shallow pieces, now nearly thirty-plus years on.
ronco “but is there much else that recommends it?”
How about one of Michael Caine’s last performances?
Mr. Hewitt did commend it for Caine’s performance, so that’s two commentators ‘For’.
I’ll rent ‘Harry Brown’, but I won’t expect much more out of it than Mr. Caine’s role. Although… it is British, and foreign filmmakers/ storytellers still have our domestic product beat!