Harry Brown (2009)

An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own form of justice.

Director:

Daniel Barber

Writer:

Gary Young (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Caine	...	Harry Brown
Emily Mortimer	...	D.I. Alice Frampton
Charlie Creed-Miles	...	D.S. Terry Hicock (as Charlie Creed Miles)
David Bradley	...	Leonard Attwell
Iain Glen	...	S.I. Childs
Sean Harris	...	Stretch
Ben Drew	...	Noel Winters
Jack O'Connell	...	Marky
Jamie Downey	...	Carl
Lee Oakes	...	Dean Saunders
Joseph Gilgun	...	Kenny
Liam Cunningham	...	Sid Rourke
Marva Alexander	...	Nurse #1
Liz Daniels	...	Kath Brown
Marvin Campbell	...	Stunt Neighbour (as Marvin Stewart-Campbell)

Storyline

In England, retired marine Harry Brown spends his lonely life between the hospital, where his beloved wife Kath is terminally ill, and playing chess with his only friend Leonard Attwell in the Barge pub owned by Sid Rourke. After the death of Kath, Len tells his grieving friend that the local gang is harassing him and he is carrying an old bayonet for self-defense; the widower suggests him to go to the police. When Len is beaten, then stabbed to death in an underground passage, Inspector Alice Frampton and her partner Sergeant Terry Hicock are sent to investigate. They pay Harry a visit but don't have good news; the police have not found any other evidence, other than the bayonet, in order to arrest the hoodlums. This mean that should the case go to trial the gang would claim self-defense. Harry Brown sees that justice will not be granted and decides to take matters into his own hands.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | police | widower | self defense | arrest | 

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Taglines:

Every man has a breaking point.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, drug use and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

Hari Braun

Filming Locations:

Aylesbury Estate, Walworth, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$7,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$173,353 (USA) (30 April 2010)

Gross:

$1,818,681 (USA) (6 August 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marv Films, UK Film Council, HanWay Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The woman singing 'Gold' in the pub was the unit nurse on the film.

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Goofs

When Harry is buying the gun there is a girl lying on a the couch. When viewed from Harry's perspective her head is laying flat on the couch, in the shot from across the room her head is propped up against the arm of the couch.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Man1: Do you want it, fella, huh?
Man2: Yeah.
Man1: Because you wanted this yesterday, brother. You wanna do this shit?
Man2: Let's go.

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Connections

References A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Gold"
(1983)
(uncredited)
Written by Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet (uncredited)

User Reviews

Required viewing for pensioners!!

The pre main-credit sequence, shot to resemble mobile-phone footage, had the desired effect: the sense of shock from the capacity audience was palpable. The film then slows down to show the reality of Harry Brown's life as a pensioner on a South London high-rise estate . Showing his routine of walking to the hospital to visit his very ill wife, having to walk a long way round to avoid confrontation with an unseen group of youths who use an underpass as their base and his meetings with his old friend and chess partner Lenny in the estate pub. There aren't many other people walking about the estate, even in daylight, out of fear of the gun-carrying teenage gangs.

Michael Caine's performance as Harry Brown is wonderful. His timing is spot-on. Credit to director Daniel Barber for allowing him space to breathe and not be hurried. In fact the overall pacing is excellent. There is good use of the soundtrack with the lack of intrusive music adding to the reality feel of the film. The night scenes are beautifully lit as well with a good balance between just enough to see what's going on and making the lighting realistic: the night scene in the pub with the lights out, for instance.

This film has been compared to 'Death Wish' and 'Gran Torino', but those films haven't got this film's bleak, realistic look at how life is in these areas. There always remains a sense of watching a film, of entertainment, of it being 'Hollywood'. This is a lot more down to earth. This film has more in common with Mike Leigh's TV drama 'Meantime' and with 'Gomorra'.

This isn't an easy 'first-date' film but it is a superior Brit film, one of the best for many years. I'm glad to see that it has got some marketing push behind it and has generated column inches talking about the subject of these 'no-go' areas and society in general.

Shocking and brilliant.