Caine’s mesmerising, tough-as-old-boots performance makes Harry Brown, if no Get Carter 2, somewhere not a million miles removed. Get some.
Comment
11/13/09
Harry Brown (2009)
77
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:17
Rotten:5
Average Rating:5.7/10
Rated: 18
Theatrical Release:11-11-2009
Reviews for Harry Brown
Top CriticAs narrative – and moral – maths go, this is a cooking of the books that sidesteps any smart commentary on real life.
11/13/09
Top CriticHarry Brown's no Get Carter, but thanks to Caine, this not-so-big movie's still in reasonably good shape.
11/13/09
Top CriticHarry Brown is one of the most gorgeous-looking British films of the decade.
11/13/09
Top CriticDaniel Barber's film occupies an interesting position on a certain type of Britfilm continuum with Ken Loach at one end and Nick Love at the other.
11/13/09
Top CriticDaniel Barber’s luridly brutal debut goes quickly way over the top.
11/13/09
Top CriticCaine is fantastic. Playing Harry like a retired Jack Carter, he brings much-needed pathos to the film’s loud pontificating, and softens its rough edges with some well-timed comedy (dark and dry though it may be).
11/13/09
Harry Brown could easily have been scripted by the staff of the Daily Mail with a helping hand from Jeremy Kyle.
11/13/09
[Caine is] never less than watchable and lifts what threatens to be yet another derivative revenge yarn into something better.
11/13/09
The hero might be Brown, but Harry is black and white in its treatment of inner-city blight. When all the bullets are spent you’re left with the dubious aftertaste of exploitation, but Sir Michael’s charisma keeps you watching.
11/13/09
Caine is surprisingly convincing as the septuagenarian avenger, even though it's a little uncomfortable to root for a vigilante, no matter what the justification for his actions. No doubt, fans of Gran Torino will not be complaining.
11/13/09
Harry Brown is not a great film, but it is an important one, with messages we ignore at our peril.
11/13/09
A gritty and exceedingly violent revenge thriller set in Broken Britain. It may be dour at times, but [Caine] turns in a very respectable performance.
11/13/09
Harry Brown is less Gran Torino and more knackered Ford Transit but just as compelling as the Clint vehicle.
11/13/09
The youthful villain demographic, plus the prompts to our indignation, come straight from the UK tabloids. But before it spins into terminal hokum, Barber’s feature debut has moments of power and menace.
11/13/09
First-time director Daniel Barber delivers a full measure of foul-mouthed brutishness, but his picture is strictly cartoon-level in terms of character and story.
11/13/09
A morally dubious thriller that is caught between social realism and lurid sensationalism.
11/13/09
Caine’s central performance is as impressive as anything he has recently done.
11/13/09
Fast and blood-splattered, stinks of weed, underage sex, mindless murder, blind loyalty and flexible morals and doesn’t sell out to a cheesy ending.
11/13/09
If you can get past the reactionary overtones of the plot, Harry Brown is an impressively directed, frequently gripping British thriller.
11/13/09
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