Too much of everything

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

OK -Since Charles Bronson, there has been a MULTITUDE of 'doll-grey- nobody' grows into 'morrodung-avenger-kickass'. The opposition has been EVERYTHING.. I mean it.. Spiders Martians Mafias Voodoo Hindoo...(well maybe no that doo, but i weakly remember one with evil hairdoo's.. Oh well This one has Micheal Caine! Enough said! Genius reliable believable and just plain -Good! The script is mainstream: * Baddies do bad stuff * Goodies are hurt * Caine kicks ass That would pretty much be a recipe for a B% strait-to-video flick, but it is NOT. All participants are acting brilliantly, and the plot has the needed twists, to make it sufficiently different from the recipe. Its a great vigilante movie! 7+ from me.

I recently learned that I had a severe lack of films viewed in which Michael Caine had a lead role. Harry Brown was certainly a film I could watch to begin to fill that void. Harry Brown was the 2009 film directed by Daniel Barber stars Michael Caine in the titular role seeking vengeance for the murder of his best friend. Having rarely seen Michael Caine in any film previously, seeing a gun-toting Michael Caine was quite a sight to behold. A fairly standard vigilante story was made engaging and interesting due to a wonderful performance by Caine.Harry Brown (Michael Caine) is no stranger to tragedy. Living life as a widower in England, Brown sees violence everywhere, including right outside his window. Harry loses his wife, who had been terminally ill shortly after the audience is introduced to him. Brown's only friend left is Leonard Attwell (David Bradley) with whom he enjoys a daily chess game. One afternoon, Leonard confesses to Harry that he is so afraid of the increase of violent acts in the area in which they live that he has decided to carry a bayonet to defend himself. Harry insists that Leonard should go to the police, but Leonard refuses. Shortly after this exchange, Leonard is beaten and stabbed to death with his own weapon. When a couple inspectors come to deliver the news to Harry, he is grief-stricken and completely devastated to lose his only friend left in the world. Knowing that even if the criminals are found and brought to trial, it would be ruled as self-defense because the knife belonged to the victim. Given such a bleak outcome, Harry decides he has had enough of being a victim of tragedy and decides to take matters into his own hands.Technically, Harry Brown had a lot going for it. There were some fantastic cuts that were useful in developing Brown's life at home, illustrating the ways in which he has become used to the violence surrounding him. There was also a fantastic juxtaposition in which we see Harry as the only one in attendance at his best friends funeral while we see a line of cars travel obstructing the audience's view of Harry. This scene was pivotal in establishing the true isolation of Caine's Brown. Thematically, Harry Brown falters a bit. For starters, the audience witnesses too much tragedy all at once in Harry's life. We really don't need to see so many tragedies occurring to drive home the notion that Harry Brown has endured much heartache in his life. A lazy filmmaking tool is showing rather than telling, and the beginning of Harry Brown is all show and no tell. The vigilante justice theme is also one that comes off nearly unavoidably formulaic. For instance, in a vigilante tale, you'll almost always have predicted action, one cop who half-heartedly goes after the vigilant and another beholden to law and order that wants to find the vigilant despite the fact that they are eliminating the bad parts of society--each of these aspects are present in Harry Brown. Harry Brown would undoubtedly be a film that no one would ever speak of, lost to the annals of cinema had it not been for the brilliant performance of Michael Caine. You know that people like Harry exist. There are people all over the world who have one friend in their life who look forward to a daily chess game, and you know this because of how Michael Caine translates the role. I want to learn to play chess, just so I can meet Harry every day so that he has someone to talk to, and is not alone. Michael Caine"s brilliantly emotional performance keeps Harry Brown from fading into obscurity and presents a true masterclass in acting.

Fine film, fine acting, I lived there too, saw many of the same things Caine remembers and portrayed well -- housing estates, alienation, boredom, elderly, fears, frustration, desperation. Reviewers & critics here missed those points, often -- the cause was the conditions, not the people, the police not the gangs or the drugs or the rest, even Harry's bravery and training were products of a society which created that South London hell. I am glad about Harry's finale at the very end, but that was a Hollywood-ending and not the movie's -- the Enemy was that ambitious & cynical cop who was manipulating the situation for his own career ends, and the System which had created him and the rest of this.The two leads have done great work -- I'll go see Caine in anything, again and again. The direction showed real talent -- I'll be looking for his work too, I hope again and again as well. This film unsettles me every time I see it, but that was its point.

If taken as a bit of fantasy fun loosely based on what are proportionately very rare events in London - then all good and well. However, when viewed by fantasists as an accurate representation of life in London then, not so good.It's just a concentration of the worst bits of London life strung together for entertainment purposes. I was born in London and have lived across its roughest bits and the vast majority of my elderly British neighbours, despite a bit of recreational moaning which we all enjoy, for the best part live happily alongside their neighbours, young and old and of all races. Most have had and still have the option to move out to live with family but they love where they live so much they don't want to.Of course London has crime, always has done. And in Michael Caine's day murderers and torturers were some of the most revered and 'respected' people in the community - and no they didn't just hurt their own - it was anyone who they took a dislike to.The film's not worth the electricity used to display it on an an LED TV in eco mode.