HARRY BROWN (2009)
When I was a kid and someone would ask me “What do you wanna be when you grow up?” I would answer all kinds of crazy shit. One day I wanted to be a baker, the other a cartoonist and so on. I guess I didn´t know back then. But if someone was to ask me today what I wanna be when I grow old, I know the answer: a vigilante! Clint Eastwood did it in “Gran Torino” and now Michael Caine has done it in “Harry Brown”. And let me tell ya, even though it´s not quite as fantastic as Clint showing those Korean kids who´s in charge this one is still pretty damn good!
It´s been quite a few years since I last visited Great Britain but the general opinion, whenever you talk with someone from there, seem to be that the country´s slowly but surely turning to shit. I guess that they´re finally reaping what that old bastard Margaret Thatcher sowed back in the day. If you were to look at British films from the last ten years or so, there has been a great deal of them that deals with the subject matter of young kids who´s out of control, especially in the horror genre. Judging from that genre´s output, I´d be afraid to visit the grocery store in broad daylight, for chrissakes!
“Harry Brown” is no exception in its portrayal of British youth gone wild. Michael Caine plays the titular retired ex-marine who loses his wife to illness. One of Harry´s few pleasures in life is to have a drink and a game of chess at his local pub with his friend Leonard. When Leonard reacts to the increasing violence on the estate by confronting the gang responsible, he is brutally murdered. Harry is informed by the police of this incident and it hurts him terribly, telling the police that they are powerless to do anything about it. Slowly and almost imperceptibly, Harry snaps and decides that he is going to sort it out the old fashioned way.
It warms my heart to see that geriatric vigilantes have gotten such a revival this last year. I hope that this, along with “Gran Torino” spawns a flood of rip off´s and imitations. Imagine if there would´ve been a whole wave of vigilante flicks, starring old actors, kinda like the Italian Spaghetti western wave back in the 60´s and 70´s. That would be something.
But anyway, no matter how much fun “Death Wish part I-V” may be, this is a much better movie. It´s grittier, more realistic and much better acted. It´s a great addition to the “Urban-life-is-hell”-genre because make no mistake, this is one bleak fucker of a film. In this flick, London is a city of sleazy characters and moral decay. There´s violence, narcotics, young girls being drugged, raped and filmed. No wonder old Harry decides to fight back-
The thing is that when Harry Brown decides to actually do something, the transition from being a chess playing pensioner to a hell bent vigilante is actually pretty believable. That´s right, this movie actually manages to get what so many other vigilante flicks get wrong: the lead character´s transition. Let´s face it: did anyone actually believe Charles Bronson´s transformation in “Death Wish”? Well, at least in part one he felt some remorse but by part III, it only took a guy scaring a couple of pigeons and then Charlie was in full fledged vigilante-mode. His character didn´t resemble the Paul Kersey from part I particularly much. But Michael Caine is, as some of you out there might´ve noticed, a pretty good actor. I think he´s gonna make it big one of these days. You just wait and see.
Caine manages to create a bad ass-character, who is in no way invincible. Harry Brown is no youngster and he faints after he chases after one guy, he´s out of breath and things like that. And even when it is apparent that Harry Brown is gonna do something about the situation and he starts fighting back, he remains the same character. I think this is a testament to Caine´s abilities as an actor. If this doesn´t get him at least some nominations, then there really is something wrong with Britain.
The other performances in “Harry Brown” are pretty decent as well, but this is a typical case of the type of movie where none of the actors are “bad” per se but they´re so far behind the lead, that they can´t help but blending into the background. Emily Mortimer isn´t given particularly much to do as a police officer but she doesn´t make an ass of herself, either. Charlie Creed-Miles as her partner also delivers and Liam Cunningham is always a reliable guy.
However, this kid Ben Drew, who plays the leader of the gang who killed Harry´s friend, is fantastically obnoxious and menacing. I´m betting this kid is gonna get a lot of parts. There´s another character named Stretch, who´s your friendly neighborhood drug pusher who also sells guns and rapes young girls, and he´s played by none other than Sean Harris. Now, you may not recognize that name but he´s the guy who played Craig the Creep in Christopher Smith´s extraordinary subway-horror “Creep” a couple of years back. He was fantastic in that role, despite the fact that he was buried under make up and he is just as frightening in this one. The scene where he shoots up heroin is particularly scary. Let´s just say that he holds his own against Michael Caine.
But back to Sir Michael Caine. He´s pretty spectacular in this movie. Hell, I´d even go as far as to say that this might be his best performance ever. He´s that good! If he hadn´t that thing going with Christopher Nolan as Alfred in the “Batman” movies, I think it´d be a good idea to retire after this one. It´d be a cool note to end on.
Impressively enough, this is directed by a first time director. This is his first feature film, anyway. Apparently he did an Oscar nominated short a couple of years back but I haven´t seen that one. But based on this, this guy Daniel Barber is definitely one to watch. He starts the movie pretty slowly and then gradually turns the screws on the viewer and also manages to capture the insanity of a riot in its final scenes. Now, it´s not like I´ve been in that many riots through the years but I did happen to find myself in one in my youth and although I was pretty intoxicated at the time, it was a weird and pretty uncomfortable experience. So good work on that, Daniel Barber!
Check this one out. It´s definitely a keeper.
Until next time: take scare!
Thomas
Tags: Daniel Barber, Death Wish, Gran Torino, Michael Caine, Sean Harris, Vigilante