Harry Brown

Synopsis: Harry Brown (Michael Caine) lives alone in an apartment on a London housing estate. Harry’s wife is in hospital and his best friend, Leonard (David Bradley), is being harassed by a local gang. On the same day, his wife dies and his best friend is murdered. After drowning his sorrows, Harry staggers home only to be mugged by a local punk. Many years ago, Harry was in the marines, and served in Northern Ireland. The training kicks in and he stabs the youth in the chest. And then, he decides to clean up the estate.

Harry Brown opens with promise as the random violence of a gang that is terrorising a London housing estate is quickly sketched. Drugs, guns and pointless murder are delivered with cinematic verve. Then we meet Harry, and in contrast to the visual cacophony preceding it, we are shown his daily routine in stately, elegantly composed shots that tell us he is alone and living a very predictable routine. Knowing that eventually the chaos of youth violence is going to meet the methodical order of age, creates an interesting tension, and I remember wondering if this is might end up feeling like Ken Loach’s take on Death Wish. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Regardless of what anyone may attempt to say, this is not a thoughtful film on the trials of ageing, the loss of family, or even the fear that comes with being older and weaker than aggressive youth. It’s a revenge thriller, and a pretty stupid one at that.

Michael Caine delivers a very good performance, and apparently the estate they filmed on was where he grew up, but once everyone Harry loves is dead and buried, forgotten by everyone save him, we get a hackneyed scene where Harry, having promised when he met his wife to put away all his nasty military habits like killing and maiming, pulls out his shoebox of mementos and retrieves his knife. It’s the same scene we’ve seen hundreds of times before. Rambo used the plot device twice. It marks the point where the film becomes pure potboiler, rather than anything more intriguing. The police subplot is so carelessly applied it may as well not exist, though it’s always nice to see Emily Mortimer get work. Once the guns come out, the only thing the film seems interested in is showing Harry killing very bad people while they’re doing very bad things. It’s a wasted opportunity, since those early moments generate so much interest in the character.

Harry Brown may have the slight flavour of what happens when Carter gets old, but it doesn’t bear favourable comparison to the other recent examination of an old codger fighting a street gang. Gran Torino was a surprising and thoughtful film that managed to subvert a number of expectations and still deliver a very satisfying story.  Daniel Barber's film doesn’t subvert anything much at all; it just has an old man who stabs, shoots and plays games with his victims, somehow magically being able to find a car that drove away despite his being on foot and asthmatic. Age only catches up to him when it can be used for cheap dramatics rather that being integral to the plot or his actions.

As a potboiler, Harry Brown is still fun. There are a number of smart reversals in the plot, the action is well staged and the bad guys are grotesque in their crimes. But essentially it follows the same old path as every other thriller. The result is enjoyable enough, but it’s a middle-of-the-road action thriller, dressed up in granddad’s clothes and pretending to have more gravitas than it does. Competent, but not much beyond that.

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