A Reel Review: HARRY BROWN

Michael Caine turns in a mesmerizing and haunting performance in HARRY BROWN, a nearly-textbook tale of a gentle old man rolling up his sleeves and going kickass vigilante.

The quiet and reserved Harry Brown (Caine), lives in an area overrun with crime. The young thugs control the area by way of drugs, violence and rape. Having lost his daughter at a young age, and losing his wife due to a long and painful disease, Brown watches quietly as his neighborhood goes to shit. The turning point comes when his best friend Leonard (David Bradley, of HARRY POTTER fame) gets knifed to death by the thugs. Brown then puts his past-Marine training to good use, and goes about a path of righteous vengeance, gunning down scumbags left and right, while the helpless and clueless police scratch their heads trying to figure things out.

BROWN is sure to draw comparisons to past old-man-vigilante flicks such as DEATH WISH and GRAN TORINO, and rightfully so. What makes BROWN succeed is the hard realism and trudging pace. This is a real-time flick, as things happen slowly and deliberately. This is not so much Harry’s story as much as a tale of doing what is right. Attention is taken away from his plight often as things switch to the police side of things. The film suffers a bit when this happens, as Caine’s excellent portrayal is the film’s ongoing highlight. Where Caine makes the film excel, the writing lacks a bit of conflict. There is no attempt to make the thugs personable (other than being assholes), and when Brown does get his way, there is no reason to feel sympathy or emotion for them. There is a lack of development in the bad-guy category that hurts BROWN.

Filmmaking has never been better in BROWN. While the pacing may frustrate younger pinheads looking for a shootout every five seconds, realists will love it. Things happen slowly, and when the eventual gunfire and violence erupts, it is just as it should be: unexpected and intrusive. Director Daniel Barber takes lessons from Scorsese very well in the violence category. The look of the film is dark and devoid of color, and the half-lighting works exceptionally well. Caine has never looked more sinister, or sad.

A lot can be said of Caine’s performance. Where GRAN TORINO entertained courtesy of racial slurs, swearing and grumpy-old-man behavior, BROWN succeeds by way of quiet reserves. Caine’s character is stooped, beaten down by life and reserved; reserves that are ready to boil over. It’s fascinating to sit and watch wondering when the volcano will erupt.

A lot of BROWN has been seen before, but as a stand-alone vigilante film, it connects with a knockout more than it misses. This is shocking and damn-near brilliant filmmaking.

BOTTOM LINE: See it.