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‘Harry Brown’: Caine shows why he’s so acclaimed
(by Ben Ritchie - June 09, 2010)
Michael Caine returns to the seedy London underground he most famously traversed in 1971’s classic crime drama Get Carter with his latest thriller Harry Brown. This time his revenge-seeking vigilante is a recently widowed, aging pensioner whose best and only friend falls afoul of the gang of hooligans terrorizing the “estate” (a London housing project) in which they both reside.
The gang is introduced early on with perhaps too much obligatory violence from first-time feature director Daniel Barber, who must have thought it necessary to establish their menace and the film’s tone. However, when individual members are brought in to be questioned by police for their involvement in Brown’s friend’s murder, this broad-stroked generalization is effectively replaced with unique, authentic and, in some cases, very frightening characters. They localize in and around an underpass outside the project; a symbol for the interruption they pose to the traffic of day-to-day life.
Squaring off against these punks is Harry Brown. Using his hooded eyelids to perfect melancholic effect, and draped in stark cinematography emphasizing his isolation, Caine’s Harry Brown is an underdog hero not unlike Charles Bronson’s Death Wish character. The urban jungle has once again become too dangerous for decent folk and, despite his frailties (not the least of which is emphysema), dirty Harry Brown takes it upon himself to clean up this Dodge City of South London. With age playing such a key factor, comparisons to Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino are almost inevitable. But whereas Eastwood has become a caricature of himself, Caine still manages to inhabit characters that are real and believable. His tremendous performance anchors this film, even when the plot veers into incredulity.
Brown’s first confrontation happens by accident while he is stumbling home drunk, mourning his friend. A drug-addled mugger draws a knife and demands his wallet. Being a war vet, and a nicely decorated one, combat training kicks in and, to even his own surprise, Brown emerges victorious. Spurred by this event and his growing rage at the wrongs he witnesses in his neighborhood and the lack of police intervention, Brown decides on a new course of action. The next altercation is on his terms.
The term “noble effort” leaps to mind. For two-thirds of this film, it is a perfect modern-day take on a 1970’s crime flick. The camerawork, the pacing, the star…everything harkens back to that gritty and often shocking decade in a most satisfactory way. Then hell breaks loose in the story by way of a police raid and the violent response from the gang, and the narrative flow of the movie suffers. Faceless gang members start pouring out of the woodwork so fast and so plentifully that they lose their credibility. Much like the unending flow of bad guys in John Carpenter’s original Assault on Precinct 13, they no longer pose a believable threat, but rather seem like recyclable villains in a video game. From there, the final action of the plot plays out in a Reservoir Dogs-style face-off and shoot-out, which further serves to disappoint discerning viewers.
The movie is a star vehicle, however, and as such it displays much of what makes Sir Michael Caine a six-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner. His command of the screen has not faltered one bit in the 40 years since Jack Carter sought his brother’s killers, and the fact that he makes a 77-year-old action hero so believable is a grand testament to his skills.
The supporting cast all give commendable performances as well, though the script shortchanges a number of them. Sean Harris in particular gives a chilling performance as the lowlife from whom Harry gains his weapons — this is the single-most intense and effective scene in the film. Emily Mortimer is good but misused as a sympathetic police investigator; Iain Glen plays out the clichéd role of the senior investigator; David Bradley shows he is capable of much more than merely being Filch in the Harry Potter series as Brown’s doomed drinking buddy; and Liam Cunningham gives an otherwise impressive performance in a role whose sole purpose is to provide the film with an unexpected, eye-rolling twist.
• Harry Brown is currently playing at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.
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