Harry Brown

HARRY BROWN

Director : Daniel Barber

Year : 2009

Genre : Thriller

Rating : *1/2

 

'Harry Brown' is a gritty crime thriller set in London and stars Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer Liam Cunningham and Jack O' Connell. Directed by Daniel Barber who is most famous for an Academy Award nominated short named 'Tonto Woman',  the movie tells the story of an ex marine seeking revenge for the death of his friend at the hands of a vicious gang of teenagers. While establishing a mood of terror and dread, 'Harry Brown' really doesn't address the issues portrayed in a convincing or entertaining way. At a time when gun violence and knife crimes are now at an all time high in England,  I feel that a movie bringing such activity to screen in such graphic and flippant ways morally repugnant and ill-timed. On release, 'Harry Brown' was met with high critical acclaim across the tabloids and broadsheets and Caine was praised for his performance. While Caine is the strongest performer in the film, there really isn't much else to recommend about the movie at all.

Caine plays the eponymous Harry Brown, an ex soldier living in a suburb in the centre of London. Around the estate in which he lives is a gang of yobbish teenagers who loiter around the underpass entrance, terrorising the neighbours and generally making the locals lives hell. At the beginning of the film, we see that Browns' wife is seriously ill and one night when leaving to visit her in hospital, he is forced to take a longer route in order to avoid the underpass which has now become a prime location for shootings and drug dealings. Harry is diverted so much that he ends up missing his wifes death and becomes inconsolable. His only companion is his best friend Leonard, who is also living in fear of the gang. He confides in Harry, saying that the police will not help him and he will take matters into his own hands, after which he brandishes a bayonet.  On the same night after trying to deal with the gang, Leonard is stabbed to death in the underpass and Harry is forced to deal with the teenagers himself. This leads him into a dangerous cat and mouse game which is full of murder and betrayal.

The beginning of the film really does succeed in portraying the dread and terror that must be felt by the elderly in this country and the scenes of pensioners looking out of their windows, terrified to go outside really did make me sympathetic. It must be heartbreaking for the elderly to see the country they love and fought for fall apart due to our youth. This element of the film really works well, and Daniel Baxter successfully manages to bring the zeitgeists of the United Kingdom to the forefront. However, this is the only element of 'Harry Brown' that works.

To me, teenagers and young adults have been horribly misrepresented in popular culture over the last decade. People have been indoctrinated by the media to be naturally wary of adolescents because if you look at them wrong, they will inevitably stab, shoot or attack you. Movies such as 'Eden Lake' have already created an air of terror and 'Harry Brown' does nothing to try and remedy this terrible misrepresentation. Not one of the younger characters can be sympathised with as every single one is a gun toting, knife wielding psychopath who would rather kill you and steal your wallet than help you. While there is a small minority of thugs out there, I think (and I'm not sure I'm not the only one) that many of us would dread being tainted with this epiphet which has now become an umbrella term for any teenager anywhere. Watching 'Harry Brown' is really like watching a live action Daily Mail article.

As always, Michael Caine gives a good performance but I am surprised that he took on a role in a film which is so mean spirited and mysogynistic. Every woman in this film is a victim and every single character seems to have an underlying vicious streak. Now, everyone knows that Caine has been in some bad films (he was in 'Jaws : The Revenge' after all), but none so morally repugnant. Harry Brown may have been suited better to Ben Kingsley or Ray Winstone rather than this quiet, humble legend of British cinema. Surely, Caine can't be proud of this film. His supporting cast contains some of the most unpleasant and spiteful characters I have seen in a homegrown movie for some time and no political or sociological message is portrayed. To me, 'Harry Brown' is just an exercise in cruelty, mysogyny and horrible characterisation. If you want to watch a movie portraying an older man seeking revenge, watch Clint Eastwood's brilliant 'Gran Torino', it is a more sympathetic and better made film. To me, the only reason why Michael Caine was bought on board was to give the movie a talking and selling point. A octogenarian taking out gangs in suburban London really should be more entertaining.

As you can probably tell I really hated 'Harry Brown'. I thought it was a movie that really shouldn't have been made and has only added to the nationwide hatred of young adults. The posters proudly boasted 'THE BEST BRITISH MOVIE OF THE YEAR'. Really?  In a year when 'The Damned United', 'In The Loop' 'Moon' and 'Shifty' were released? Clearly, as long as a movie contains a living legend and a large amount of unnecessary violence, it automatically becomes the best movie of the year. How about entertainment value or substance? Daniel Baxter may be able to convey a sense of dread and suspense, but he can't convey much else.