Review of Harry Brown (2009) by Barry T — 03 Aug 2011

Not a bad little revenge pic, and Caine is awesome as always.

It's shot really well - the bleak, faded, pastels of Harry's flat, and the grime of the estate really conjure up an uneasy feeling of actually being in such a shithole. A scene in a drug dealer's den where Harry goes to get a gun is also genuinely menacing.

Thing is... the dialogue's clunky - particularly at the start between the pensioners. It doesn't feel real or believable. It's like the film-makers rushed it just to give Harry some reasons for taking the action that he does... there's not much depth there.

But if depth is an issue there, then don't even bother with the female cop character... completely unbelievable. Totally wet; no motivation behind anything she does/says; she just alienated me (as a viewer) for not having anything to offer in the film, despite playing a pretty big part.

Ben Drew (Plan B) is convincing, and this film does do a decent, if exaggerated line, in portraying young thugs... but they don't spend a great deal of time on them either. It's all a bit superficial.

There's no doubt that what Harry Brown does well, it does very well... it's menacing, cool, evocative, and gritty. But it's all a bit shallow to make it a great film. #.

Bottom line though - there's something undeniably cool about watching a pensioner take out a load of youths a third of his age. That's why the Lads' Mags all give it 5 stars, but why anyone looking for a serious film will only give it about 3.