I recently reacquainted myself with Harry Brown which I hadn't seen for 7 or 8 years, to find that the past decade has been kind to it. It seems even better now, than when I first saw it and thought it was pretty good then. Harry Brown represents a fine debut feature film from director Daniel Barber and it is surprising to find he has only directed one other production since.
The story follows Harry Brown, a widowed, Royal Marines veteran who had served and seen plenty of action in Northern Ireland, living on a London housing estate plagued by youth crime. After a violent gang murders his friend, Harry decides to take justice into his own hands.
The story outwardly would seem to follow any number of revenge thriller templates, perhaps most obviously Death Wish. But Harry Brown is one of the most grounded depictions of conflicted vigilantism that I've seen. The set-ups are realistic and the outcomes believable, though undoubtedly exaggerated at times for dramatic emphasis. And make no mistake, this is a suspenseful, dark, but thrilling film, that carries both an emotional and physical punch.
In the title role Sir Michael Caine is sublime and completely in his element as the aged ex-warrior who is seemingly forced into actions that he thought he'd probably left behind decades previous. Imagine a rehabilitated, very senior, Jack Carter, who'd survived the events we saw in Get Carter. That sums up our Harry, who crosses paths with Set. Insp. Alice Frampton, who oozes genuine sympathy and condolences for his losses, but later suspects him of taking the law literally into his own hands. Emily Mortimer is excellent, as the talented detective, genuinely trying to make a difference in some of the worst of London's slum areas. One of the great strengths of the film are the dual storylines of both the protagonist and the police officer who feels a need to keep looking over his shoulder. There are also great turns from Game of Thrones alumni, Liam Cunningham, Iain Glen and David Bradley. Mention must also be made of Ben Drew, better known apparently as a rap singer called Plan B. He manages to personify an inherited evil in his role as gang leader Noel Winters.
Despite not really being an action movie, Harry Brown does feature a couple of quite electrifying set pieces; one involving a visit to a sordid drug den and another being the climactic aftermath to a riot in the housing estate central to the story. As mentioned above, there have been other films like this before, but none quite as believable. Daniel Barber has created a debut film that is maybe not for everyone, but is gripping from start to finish.
