Harry Brown (2009)

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nostromo
brilliant postmodern revenge tragedy that instantly seemed to me like a contemporary reprisal of one of Caine's earlier works, Get Carter. 12 years 2 months ago
Siskoid
I was holding out hope that crabby David Bradley* would become Robin to Michael Caine's Batman in Harry Brown, a Deathwish story starring senior citizens, but alas, it was not meant to be. It's still a pretty good crime thriller, in which the lead has the element of surprise because no one would suspect an octogenarian of being a badass vigilante, albeit one that's almost always out of breath. Harry isn't exactly an idealized action hero, quite the opposite. But when the estate where he lives is overrun by a gang of thugs, he snaps, using his anonymity, wits and really old training, to take the fight to them. Emily Mortimer rounds out the main cast as the only detective who cares about the situation, and she isn't glammed up either. This is bleak and realistic, though the inner city violence is a bit more intense than the latter epithet would normally grant. I wish more had been done with Harry's interest in chess (the metaphor is very thin), but I do like the ambiguous note the last scene strikes. 5 years 3 months ago
hippo
Really cool! 13 years 4 months ago