On H List of Movie Reviews
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Harry Brown (2009)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
4/26
4/26:
Harry Palmer...Harry Tristan Dean...Harry Anders...Harry Brown.
Finally, Michael Caine stars in a film that's titled after his character: Harry Brown. It's
very average that reminds me too much of the late sequels put out by the
Death Wish franchise. They might as well call this one:
Death Wish VI: Emphysema Won't Put an Old Man Down.
That being said, Michael Caine is too old (he was 75 at the time of fiming). I know in his prime he would've
have taken all bad guys out after running around circles on them with a Cockney accent. But this time, the
script is below his standard, causing him to settle for mundane lines. At least, Michael Caine has
one good scene when his character buys guns, making me realize he hadn't done anything this seedy since
Get Carter.
Another problem is there's a lot of focus on inspectors. It takes away the momentum. To fix it is to
have Michael Caine interacting with a lot of people, especially the criminal element. What's annoying is
Emily Mortimer being on the verge of tears in every scene. I've never seen a detective or an inspector act
in this manner. By the way, what's with the tiny font for the title sequence? It's like being forced to buy a
magnifying glass in order to read the words.
All in all, Death Wish is usually enough.