HARRY BROWN Pensioned Avenger

HARRY BROWN

Pensioned Avenger

Directed by Daniel Barber
Starring Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Liam Cunningham, David Bradley

There’s nothing wrong with the youth of today that a hollow-point round to the brainstem can’t fix. That, boiled down to the basics, is the central thesis of this British revenge thriller. Caine’s titular character draws on long-buried skills, learned as a marine in Northern Ireland, to wage war against the ‘chav’ hordes that have terrorised his council estate and murdered his best friend Leonard (Bradley).

His arc echoes that of Charles Bronson in the vigilante classic Death Wish as he slowly embraces his inner violence, picking off gang members while trying to avoid the suspicions of investigating officer D.I. Frampton (Mortimer). The added wrinkle is that Harry is, of course, an old man, which generates an interesting tension as we wonder if he can handle the physical strain of his nocturnal predations.

Director Barber mounts the picture handsomely enough, depicting a drab world of grey skies and blank concrete walls, and Caine brings his usual skill and charisma to the role, showing us a man whose capacity for violence is contrasted by the fragility brought about by advancing age. It’s a shame, though, that such an interesting creation is not supported by a better script. The film purports to be shining a light on the various issues confronting Britain’s underclass, but it offers no solutions save terminal violence.

The gang members that Harry preys upon are portrayed as completely inhuman and irredeemable, capable of the most depraved and evil acts without batting an eyelid. In the world of the film there can be no compromise with these latter-day droogs, and it falls upon Harry to mete out justice when the ineffectual police force can’t stem the tide of violence. There’s no equivocating on the morality of Harry’s actions; he’s presented as simply doing what needs to be done, more pest exterminator than murderer.

Harry Brown has drawn comparisons with Gran Torino, sharing as it does an aged protagonist haunted by his wartime experiences and forced to confront violent youth culture. But that’s where the comparisons end. While Eastwood’s film ultimately refutes the notion of violence as an agency of redemption, here violence is the answer; the root causes of crime and violence are ignored in favour of reductive, black and white morality.

Ultimately, Harry Brown is a naive and cowardly film, content to paint its world in broad strokes and present complex issues in the simplest possible terms. If, as it has been called, it’s an urban Western, it’s of the kind where the Indians are mindless savages who must be exterminated for the common good. While it’s great to see Michael Caine in a leading role again, it’s a shame that it comes in a film that, when all is said and done, basically promotes fascism.

_TRAVIS JOHNSON