Rent Harry Brown (2009)

Great Micheal Caine Film - A British Death Wish - Harry Brown review by OL

A British Death Wish- Ex Marine goes vigilante after police failure to find his friend's murderers. Great film, still waiting for sequel?

An interesting fantasy... - Harry Brown review by CP Customer

...in which all of both the perpetrators and victims of gun and drug crime in the sink estates of modern Britain are white. I deplore the blatant lack of 'diversity' in this film. But who needs the truth when we can be entertained by the kind of fiction the self flagellating liberal middle class white chatterattzi persist in believing in the face of cold evidence?

Aside from that appalling dishonesty (which does black people a great disservice), the film was half decent.

Vigilante - British Style - Harry Brown review by CD

I found this film very slow moving to begin with, albeit with fine actors. Once the violence starts and one discovers Harry's Royal Marines' background it is fairly obvious where this is heading. On the plus side, some of the scenes get into the sheer horror of drug gang morals and culture, but otherwise there is very little exploration of any of the characters, and it is a bleak film in a world where force prevails. Worth a watch, if only for Michael Caine in a UK film role.

Better than Death Wish - Harry Brown review by CSF

I was pleasantly surprised. I watched this film because of what I read in Michael Caine's self-bio. The film was simple, effective, moving even delicate despite the violence. But the violence was not complaisant for the sake of the show, it was necessary to expose it because this exists. My favourite quotations is:

Police woman : "Harry, you are not in Northern Ireland"

Harry : " That's right, in Northern Ireland, they kill for a cause. Here, they kill for entertainment.

Not to be missed. A little gem.

Excellent! - Harry Brown review by JT

Not at all what I was expecting so pleasantly surprised! Enjoyed it and portrayed what life can be like for many people. A definate watch.

Tough & Bold British Crime Thriller - Harry Brown review by GI

A tough, brutal and in very gritty British social crime drama and thriller that has its roots in the vigilante sub-genre. On the surface the film follows the normal narrative structure of films of this type, e.g. ex military expert, inadequate justice system, animalistic criminals, but with Michael Caine, the very British urban housing estate setting and some fantastic characters this is a really sharp and interesting film. It has it's flaws not least that Emily Mortimer's police detective character is somewhat underused and incomplete, but this is balanced by Sean Harris' fantastic performance as a zombie-like drug dealing criminal and Liam Cunningham as the bored pub landlord with a secret. Caine is the titular Harry, a lonely, recently widowed pensioner who lives on a London council estate riven with gang crime. Harry avoids any confrontations until his only friend, Len (David Bradley) is murdered and he decides that the only avenue open to him is to take the law into his own hands as he finds the police to be ineffective. For the most part this is a sad indictment of modern Britain but it does dip into cliché in some of the characterisations such as Iain Glen's arrogant police commander and the riot scenes don't quite hit the mark and serve only to conveniently allow a plot point. But that aside this is a strong Michael Caine film and Harry Brown is clearly written for him. A very British take on the 'Death Wish' scenario and a film that really hits the spot.