There’s something unseemly about Hollywood’s “Bucket List” genre; where characters either facing their mortality or falling in love with the standard cute, quirky girl… or some such lame thing, let loose their inner narcissist and shift into emancipating All About Me mode. The lesson being that this is how they should have lived their lives all along. Really, is “Seize the Day” a realistic gameplan for a healthy, happy, and fulfilling life? Hollywood would have you believe so, which is why a film like “Harry Brown” is such a rare breath of fresh air.
The Mighty Michael Caine plays the title character, a retired British pensioner who once served as a Marine in Northern Ireland and now resides in a massive, generic, depressing and dirty housing project called The Estate. It’s here that Harry’s life became one of precision and sameness. He wakes, dresses, eats his jelly toast and then walks to a nearby hospital to visit his ailing wife. The most convenient route for this daily commute would be through the tunnel that runs beneath a busy freeway. But that tunnel is constantly infested with a rotating menagerie of dangerous youth gangs looking for a place to hang when not out terrorizing the Estate’s residents.
Because his wife is rarely conscious, Harry’s sole company is Leonard (David Bradley), a widower and fellow pensioner. To wile away the lonely afternoons, the men enjoy quiet, leisurely pints and games of chess at the local pub. Though the old friends are comfortable in silence, when they do speak it’s frequently about the violence they’re forced to live with. Harry prefers to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. Leonard, however, is tired of being harassed and vows to start fighting back.
When you’re Harry’s age an unexpected knock on the door can only mean bad news. Inspector Alice Frampton (Emily Mortimer), a warm, caring woman who could’ve left this dirty job to a subordinate, informs Harry that Leonard’s been murdered. It’s here that Harry’s outward calmness cracks just enough to make clear that he’s fed up with the inability of the police to stop such open and brazen crime, fed up with the injustice of it all.
**SOME SPOILERS BELOW***
Harry’s first kill is in self defense. Despondent, drunk and on his way home he’s mugged by a knife-wielding junkie. Without even realizing it, Harry’s military reflexes kick in and later the police find the punk dead, stabbed with his own knife. After this experience, Harry understands his duty and sets out to do it.
The secret to crafting a successful genre picture – in this case a vigilante pic — is to hold tight to the elements people expect and enjoy while at the same time presenting them in a fresh way. First time director David Barber and screenwriter Gary Young obviously understand this. For starters, Harry Brown may be dangerous but he’s no Charles Bronson. He has emphysema and once the chase is on, well, it doesn’t last very long. Secondly, in a memorable interrogation scene, the narrative takes the time to stop and help the audience comprehend the depraved, nihilistic and very dangerous mindset of the villains and why the police – who want to help – cannot.
If this doesn’t convince you a reckoning’s necessary, there’s a later scene, a stunner of a set-piece that takes place in a drug den that further exposes the black, degenerate heart of what the helpless residents of the Estate face daily. Sub-human doesn’t begin to describe them. Time to do what a man’s gotta do. And do it Harry does, in a number of ways that not only brings about an immense amount of satisfaction through the cinematic execution but also in the knowledge that our effete critical class will soon be harrumphing about fascism.
But it’s not fascism. It’s duty. Rather than using old age as an excuse to let loose his inner child, Harry selflessly risks his life to avenge a friend and make life livable again for his neighbors. That’s a noble thing, and thankfully there’s no last second narrative bait and switch. The filmmakers think so too.
The story isn’t perfect. A subplot involving Mortimer’s Inspector and her cold, ambitious boss feels a little out of place – like a movie that couldn’t quite come up with a proper third act. But that’s why you hire a Michael Caine, a movie star’s movie star – an actor’s actor – an extraordinary screen presence who carries in all that hushed stillness an edge of competence and danger. The two-time Academy Award winner grew up in the same housing project “Harry Brown” is set in. So there’s “street” in Sir Michael and bring it to this incredibly satisfying grinder he does, along with all the dignity and force his righteous character deserves.
“Harry Brown” was one of Britain’s biggest hits of the year and is now in limited release here in U.S. Though not as close in spirit to “Taken” or “Gran Torino,” as you might think (the all kinds of awesome “Death Wish II” comes pretty close), if you enjoyed either, catch Caine if you can.
If only because all the right people don’t want you to.
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