Harry Brown

(Daniel Barber/2009/UK)

Michael Caine goes all Chuck Bronson in this London vigilante tale but he has quite a few years on his Death Wish predecessor so it’s more bus pass and pension than Smith and Wesson, not unlike Eastwood in the previous year’s Gran Torino really. At its heart Harry Brown is a revenge story as Caine takes on a local gang of hoodied youths in a sequence of events that become ever more bloody and tense. It’s all a bit over the top and the bleakness of the lives and surroundings on display coupled with full on torture and violence diminish any chance of spinning it for a laugh. The narrative is too restrictive to pass as decent social comment so you’re left with a slightly absurd set up that plays out in an overly dramatic way. Michael Caine is absolutely brilliant as the aggrieved old codger though and his performance is worth the admission price alone.

(2/5)