The film Harry Brown (directed by Daniel Barber, screenplay by Gary Young) puts its hero’s name in the title thus elevating it to the heights of literary generalization. The image and the actions of one character referred to as “a vigilante pensioner” serve as a backbone for a contemporary tale set in a Britain’s low income Anytown, and its central conflict between civility and barbarism dressed in a generational war camo. Michael Caine, equally good in his quietly dignified unhurried roles of manly heroes and in his depictions of villains and twisted-minded white-collar criminals, is superb as Harry Brown, a retired serviceman called to arms by the rampant gangsterism and its ubiquity. The film is a warning to punks of all persuasions, and no one can paint those outrageously repulsive and nauseating punks better than the filmmaking Brits. Never mind that the predictability level is rather high, and when it is made clear that the hero is all alone in the world you kind of expect some desperate moves from him and easy risk-taking. No matter how smart and insightful one sympathetic police detective can be, the struggle is between the hero and the evil, so it’s a pure and noble standoff with all the necessary shockers along the way to make you shudder and be thoroughly thrilled. It’s a good solid piece of filmmaking, and a thriller dignified by the presence of the great actor. The film opened in San Francisco on Friday, April 30.
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