Harry Brown

Title: Harry Brown
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Starring: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Iain Glen
Director: Daniel Barber

Watching a film dissect, criticise and reprimand a city that you’ve spent a time living in – have enjoyed living in – is never an easy thing to do. Watching it, and knowing that whilst essentially your standard revenge film, that none of the horrors have been embellished or exaggerated; that everything put to film, laid bare for all to see rings eerily true. The dark street corner by the river side all too familiar, the hidden knives in the jackets always out of sight and out of mind but you always knew they were there, in a city where people stopped reading about the crime rate; all the knifings, muggings and street shootings so as to forget, and so the news barely covers it any more. Reminding us of the wave of ‘happy slapping,’ where you’d be thankful if it really was just a slap, or the antagonisation and gang violence that is no longer just the jurisdiction of the larger groups but a war between hundreds of smaller gangs that patrol the streets with something to prove.

But sadly, whilst this aspect feels immaculately conceived, plotted and planned, for those detached from the location, the plot itself all feels too tired, almost as though its more of a re-made compilation of old Caine films, meshed together and brought to modern times. The sombre and heartfelt start from the lead role of Harry himself; his only good friend Len to keep him company, he gets most of his human interaction from the pub across the street. Constantly living in fear of the local youth gangs, it is the death of his good friend, and the all-talk-no-action response from the police that are the catalysts in his decision to take matters into his own hands.

As much a drama as it is standard tale of revenge, the end result comes off a little muddled; Michael Caine hasn’t needed to look for work for a long time now, having an acting career spanning six decades people come to him, only taking those projects that interest him, and this feels like a role built entirely with him in mind. You won’t find any ‘Indy 4’ stunts here – at his age he is able to even run let alone perform stunts – and the subject matter is one that he believes worth addressing, a matter which clearly shows, capably demonstrating his own loneliness in a manner that proves all those years of experience haven’t been in vain, but addressing the issue of gang violence with even more violent vigilante justice? It’s unquestionably a slippery slope; create a heartfelt drama tackling a serious issue as was hinted at the start of the film and it wouldn’t garner half the appeal of a tasty new Caine thriller, re-living his old ‘Get Carter’ days, that sadly doesn’t carry the same impact either.

Furthermore, there is an incessant police storyline tied into the proceedings, the out of place comical police idiot played by ‘Iain Glen,’ matched by the stern ‘Emily Mortimer’ as they wander around talking to people, displaying a lack of tact when it comes to open discussion, being intimidated by those they’re meant to be questioning and failing to do anything more than incite a riot; perhaps trying to demonstrate the apathetic ineptitude of the London Metropolitan Police, it never feels more than a tacked on idea that fails to bring anything other than an extended run time. With news that this may well be the last ever film to have Sir Michael Caine at the centre of events, it feels fitting for him to have come full circle and step into a role like that at the height of his career, proving himself once more. It’s simply a shame that the first time director tried to do too much, striving to create a film with as much a hard-hitting message as an upbeat thriller, but ultimately failing to satisfy either condition.