Review of Harry Brown (2009) by Roger B — 10 Oct 2010

Maybe it's my age, but a movie about an older vigilante kicking ass in his crime infested neighborhood would ordinarily have had me add it to my list of movies to watch. But add in the fact that the vigilante is none other than Michael Caine and it's at the top of my list. Caine has had roles where he's kicked ass in the past, but this is one of his most interesting.

Caine is one of my favorite actors and he did not disappoint. He has a certain class to him that makes whatever he does just seem the correct and proper and honorable thing to do. No wonder he played Alfred in The Dark Knight. As Harry Brown, he is a pensioner devastated by the death of his wife. He witnesses various violent crimes in his neighborhood between visits to the hospital to visit his wife before she dies. But to this point, he pays them little attention.

I would call this movie a blending of Gran Torino and Death Wish. Like Gran Torino, Harry can't (and doesn't want to) go anywhere else, after all he has lived in this neighborhood most of his life since coming home from the war - something he won't discuss with anyone, not even his wife. But the movie morphs to Death Wish when his best friend and chess partner is brutally harrassed and then murdered. Harry then puts all that past military training into action to avenge his friend's death. Lots of action ensues along with a entertaining ending.

As I get older, I more and more understand the feeling behind vigilanteism. However, as "bad" as these criminals are, my anger is more directed at those who create a society where behavior like this is enabled. No jobs, no hope, yet a wealthy class that keeps taking more. So, in the end, who should a vigilante actually lash out at? Well, in this film, the answer's easy and you sepnd the entire time rooting for Harry aka Caine. Well done Sir Michael......