Vigilante films are always popular, last year Clint Eastwood had great success with “Gran Torino” and Michael Winner is best known as a film director for the “Death Wish” series that made Charles Bronson an international star, those films had audiences cheering when revenge was metered out to the bad guys.
It is now the turn of a very impressive Michael Caine, to turn vigilante. Harry Brown is a widower who, when his friend Len (David Bradley) is murdered by the feral youth on an inner city estate, remembers his Marine training and sets out for revenge.
This film paints a bleak picture of inner city Britain with the gang culture and extreme violence. With Pensioners too scared to go out, this film has tapped into that fear factor and the almost daily happenings were decent people are beaten, murdered or driven to suicide by out of control youths who rule by fear and intimidation. Places were the Police are virtually powerless to stop the gangs or help the pensioners. Even when some of the gang members are arrested, early on in the film, nothing happens to them as they just play the system in their favour.
It is unrelenting, first time director, Daniel Barber does not lighten the mood at any time. From the opening gang incitation, filmed on a mobile phone, followed by the gang members racing around on a motorbike wildly firing a gun and killing single mum, pushing a pram, in the process, to the final shoot out. Yes there is a final shoot out and I will not spoil the film by revealing the outcome, it is grim, beautifully filmed but grim. This is a vigilante film, you know it is not going to end happy every after, go and see New Moon for that.
Michael Caine is very well suited to playing this sort of character and there will be comparisons with Clint Eastwood, but this is not Gran Torino, more Old Banger. Emily Mortimer playing a not too convincing Police Inspector, I thought she was a social worker when she first visits Harrys flat. She suspects that Harry is not the kindly old codger he makes out. When she suggests this, The Brass, who have their own agenda for dealing with the estate thugs, ignore her, to their politically correct cost.
It makes uncomfortable viewing of a society spiralling out of control and unfortunately here in Liverpool we have seem too many examples of the events that are portrayed so painfully in Harry Brown.
At the premiere Michael Caine, who served in the Korean War, suggested that National Service be brought back to give these young men a sense of purpose and hope. The problem would be that they might get sent to Afghanistan, were the heroin is produced that is sold on the estates that has lead to this broke society shown so well in Harry Brown, we are fighting a war on two fronts.
This is not a great film, it is a good film that has an important message and should be compulsory viewing at Political Party Conferences, where it will shame the Left and embarrass the right.
Cert 18. It fully deserves its 18 certificate. 7/10
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