Harry Brown

Über Elite Squad sagt man allgemein, es sei ein faschistischer Film, wobei im Falle des ideel recht ähnlichen Harry Brown niemand so etwas sagen wird, denn in der Hauptrolle sehen wir hier einen netten Rentner mit dem Gesicht seines geliebten Michael Caine. Ansonsten ähneln sich die Filme in etlichen Dingen - in der Darstellung der kriminellen Unterschicht als primitivem Stamm, im Bereitstellen einer simplen Lösung sowie in einer bestimmten eindeutigen Sichtweise der Welt (fairer Marine vs. miese Kerle unterster Kanone). Das ganze hat mir bei Padilha, selbst bei Barber nichts ausgemacht, und ich mache mir da keine Illusionen, dass es in ausgewählten englischen Siedlungen viel besser aussieht. Ansonsten hat mich Harry Brown nicht allzu sehr angesprochen, der soziale Ton ist eher unglaubwürdig (schien mir zu sehr vorarrangiert), Barber hat aus Caine keinerlei faszinierende Leistung herausgeholt und das Drehbuch ist außerdem ziemlich klischeehaft, obwohl es bemüht ist, dies mit dem Realismus der Umwelt zu verschleiern ... Insgesamt habe ich irgendwie nicht verstanden, was das eigentlich hat sein sollen - ein soziales Drama oder ein nicht traditioneller Thriller? Eastwood hat das ganze eine Schippe überzeugender gemacht, obwohl mir einige Szenen aus Barbers Film ziemlich unter die Haut gingen. Aber nicht allzu tief. (24.03.2011)

This is almost better than Gran Torino. The opening scene on the motorbike is the best filmed scene this year, Caine is more uncompromising than anybody I have seen recently and for seventy minutes this really is a five-star movie. But then it starts to go wrong and the finale in the pub totally wrecks it. If it had remained on the “modest level" of pensioner versus local youth in front of a tenement block, I would have been much more content in the end. P.S.: Comparison with Gran Torino is essential, like it or not. Although in the end they are completely different genres, Eastwood worked and relied on the premise that everybody expected precisely what they get here from Harry Brown. (28.11.2009)

Some comments compare this film to Eastwood's much more famous film Gran Torino. The characters of both pensioners who have decided to stand against injustice and stop the rampage of a criminal gang somewhat suggest this, but personally, I consider the thematic similarity of the two films misleading. This British film develops the tradition of stories about a lonely avenger who takes justice into his own hands and cleans the streets of the city from crime. This theme, once so popular in the western genre, was newly taken up by Michael Winner when he made Death Wish. That film became extremely popular in the United States during the turbulent 1970s when crime in New York spiraled out of control in several neighborhoods, and it led to several sequels. Harry, who, after the murder of his friend, remembers the years spent in Her Majesty's Navy, has, despite his advanced age, a precise aim in reducing the number of members of a youth gang that controls a vast housing estate on the outskirts. Within this category of films, I consider Harry Brown to be the best work, not only thanks to the acting performance of the famous film veteran Michael Caine in the lead role. The script is also of high quality, as it effectively works with emotions and carefully doses tension. Overall impression: 90%. (03.09.2014)

If you want to fight against evil, you have to become evil. An atmospheric genre movie that the awesome Michael Caine steals for himself. The screenplay isn’t at all original, but Daniel Barber squeezes the maximum out of it anyhow and does it almost blindfold. Many will compare Harry Brown to Clint’s Gran Torino and they won’t be far off. And even though Harry is more predictable than Clint’s latest film adventure, it’s much rawer, harder and more brutal. And that’s what won my heart. Listen to me. If you don’t tell me, I’ll shoot you in the kneecaps. First one, then the other, until you tell me. So, what do you say? (06.03.2010)

The street brawls are a bit too wild and out of touch with reality, but those British gangs and rowdy youths are evil, and Daniel Barber manages to capture it quite atmospherically and believably in the smaller passages. Michael Caine doesn't fail either, appearing on the surface more affable than the morose Clint Eastwood, but either one or the other suits the viewer. They aren’t bad, but the explicit and uncompromising violence is more entertaining, and its highlight is the terrific scene in the drug den, which is downright chilling, well shot and acted. Too bad about the overacting characterful policewoman and the sentimentality, but it's bearable, and it does say said what it wanted to say. (30.09.2015)

A superb film that will be enjoyed (especially) by fans of Michael Caine, the typically dense atmosphere of British films and the emotions of people who find themselves in hopeless situations against their will. All delivered in a fantastic visual package with perfect music. The best scene: the junkies’ den. Five stars. (31.12.2009)

Even before watching this I was determined to rise above the tendentious crypto-fascism of Harry Brown. In the end, it's easy to cheer for, plus if you mistake Nordhampton or wherever it was for Libeň or Holešovice, it arouses quite a bit of enthusiasm. Comparing Harry Brown to Gran Torino is just skating on the surface, Harry Brown is more in the same vein as Elite Squad. The latter, however, is more uncompromising in its admissions. It also rises above longstanding solutions and sources of "evil" and addresses it in ways that would make a liberal puke. For in its primitiveness, the film divides London into mothers with children, British traditionalists, Chinese victims of their own humility, black filth, and white trash. It so revels in its depiction of this world that a visit to a grow house turns into a descent into a pit of evil of ancient proportions with absolutely comic-book absolute evil (a brilliant scene by the way). Unfortunately, the fall comes in the last third of the film, when the screenwriter hits a wall with his face with the street riots and forgets to justify that moronic storyline with the policewoman and her purse, not to mention the final Bond-esque villain and the laughable digital blood. If I wanted to be a jerk, I'd write that Harry Brown is practically the same thing as if Nudity for Sale had been made by someone who knows how to make movies. I like fascist movies, so I'm not complaining. (14.05.2012)

Für mich persönlich ein besserer Film als Gran Torino. Michael Caine exzelliert in der Rolle eines pensionierten Mariners, der von zweifacher Trauer eingeholt wird und der sich auf den blutigen Pfad der gerechten Rache begibt. Harry Brown würde die volle Anzahl Sterne verdienen, wenn der Film in der zweiten Hälfte nicht etwas gekippt und zu stark kombiniert gewesen wäre. Darüber hinaus stellt Caine mit seiner Leistung alle anderen in den Schatten, was im Falle von Emily Mortimer nicht sonderlich schwer ist, sie wandelt den gesamten Film über mit einem Ausdruck ewiger Trauer und Wehmut über die Leinwand. (28.05.2012)

The atmosphere of the British suburbs captured in a truly bravura way. It is true that Gran Torino is more complex, "slicker", and more advanced in terms of filmmaking, but on the other hand, this is British variation doesn’t screw around with anything or anyone, to put it plainly. The raw and gritty atmosphere, the excellent Michael Caine, and a few moments of inner satisfaction (laws and police tribute sometimes aren't enough) are the three main reasons why Harry Brown is worth watching. More impressive than Gran Torino in terms of authenticity and overall appeal – at least for me. 90% (08.04.2010)