Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Harry Brown Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't mess with Harry Brown.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 31, 2010

I want a gun.

Director Daniel Barber's Harry Brown is a modern reference-standard for the Vigilante picture. The film understands the genre better than most and, just as importantly, it captures the action, drama, emotion, inner turmoil, and outer violence of its complex character and visually gloomy world exceptionally well, all the while building an environment in which one can safely cheer for the dangerous, distressed, and personally and psychologically devastating need for vigilantism in a world gone terribly astray from societal norms. Harry Brown finds, maintains, and builds through that thin line that separates modern man's inkling towards letting a justice system and police force work on its own accord versus that consistent companion in the back of the mind and in the deepest recesses of the heart and soul that begs for someone outside the law to take matters into his or her own hands and rid the world -- or at least one's own little corner of it -- of those negative influence, bad vibes, and hurtful people who effortlessly and quickly tear down what the populace has painstakingly and over time built up. Harry Brown is a picture that allows its audience to cheer on violence as a means of combating violence, but the picture works because it also assumes and focuses on the consequences of violence on a city, a criminal element, the law, and one man's very essence.

Anyone seen some green leaves around here?

Harry Brown (Michael Caine, Sleuth) is an older gentleman and former Royal Marine who's just lost his wife to illness. He buries her alongside his previously-deceased daughter, and he's left only to enjoy the companionship of his best friend Leonard (David Bradley) at the local pub where they drink and partake in countless games of chess. Harry lives in a rough area of London; gang violence is a way of life, and soon after Harry loses his wife, Leonard falls victim to a gang attack and does not survive the encounter. Harry is visited by the local authorities and questioned about his relationship with his late friend by Inspector Alice Frampton (Emily Mortimer, City Island). When it appears that the law cannot take control of the ugliness playing out on London's streets, Harry -- alone and with no one but himself to answer to -- chooses to take matters into his own hands. He acquires several handguns and doles out his own brand of justice on the streets, working towards solving his friend's murder while ensuring that those responsible are punished -- severely.

Harry Brown works on every level required of a Vigilante movie; it's a difficult genre in which to work for all of the circumstances, messages, meanings, and societal influence such a picture may wield. Harry Brown is the best of its kind since Death Wish and Tim Burton's Batman, the former the genre standard-bearer and the latter a picture that might be rooted in comic book lore but nevertheless captures most of the themes, attributes, and visual styles that define the genre's best. Harry Brown plays inside the gritty, dark, dirty, depressing, and difficult world it paints extraordinarily well. Everything in the film -- whether its locations, thugs, or Brown's own psychological makeup that allows him to turn down a dark but oddly heroic avenue -- seems completely convincing. This is a rare picture that seems absent actors, locations, crews, lighting, music, and effects, instead playing out like some strangely alluring but at the same time dangerous real-life scenario in which the viewer is a safely uninvolved observer of some frightening occurrence that's playing out in front of them and in their very lives, the film delivering characters, actions, and locations that seem far too real and not merely projected images in a cinema or home theater. That's a tribute to just how well made and acted a film Harry Brown is; few films that are as visually dark and psychologically disturbing as this ever manage to feel so personal.

With Harry Brown's effectiveness comes a picture that's certainly not for the faint-of-heart; it's a difficult picture considering the level of brutal violence it offers, but far more often than not, it's the picture's general tone -- its disturbing emotional undercurrents and the lack of civility and the resultant sadness and grotesqueness that's a result -- that makes it a tough watch. Still, it's balanced by Michael Caine's exceptional performance of the character scripted by Gary Young. Caine manages to sell the audience on his character and his place in the film through a performance that's every bit as touching as it is hard-hitting. Caine handles the extremes of his life as depicted in the film in such a way so as to not only build the character but sell his violent action later in the movie without sacrificing any integrity or leaving the audience to question his motives or heart. The suffering he endures at the loss of his best friend, his wife, and, at some point earlier before the events of the picture, his child, paint him as a man with nowhere to go and nothing to hold him back, but Caine's uncanny ability to put on a display of such sadness, regret, and emptiness is nothing short of brilliant, and his ability to solidify the character as a goodhearted man only helps the picture as it moves from emotionally draining to brutally violent. Harry Brown contrasts the best and worst man has to offer; Brown is a man caught in a world that's taken everything from him without remorse, and the picture looks at his choice to do something with his life when life leaves him no other alternatives. The juxtaposition of the dark and violent-ridden world and an older, heartbroken man seems like -- and in the hands of Michael Caine, Daniel Barber, and Gary young, is -- the perfect storm for the perfect Vigilante picture, and Harry Brown may very well be just that.

Harry Brown Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Harry Brown makes its U.S. Blu-ray debut (the disc was previously released as a region B U.K. title, distributed by Lionsgate) with a striking 1080p transfer from Sony. Harry Brown is a cold and dark picture that favors a gray and black color scheme, the image ultimately yielding, then, something of a muted palette and lighter flesh tones. Black levels are critical to Harry Brown, and Sony's transfer impresses a great deal with fantastic shadow detail and rich, absorbing blacks that never fluctuate to a pale, gray shade. Fine detail excels even through the film's darker texture. Whether concrete walls, debris-covered streets, or the finest lines on human faces, Harry Brown delivers plenty of fantastic textures. The transfer is free of any distracting damage or excessive digital manipulation, and the image enjoys a slight layer of film grain that adds a pleasing filmic texture to the proceedings. Harry Brown represents yet another marvelous 1080p transfer from Sony.

Harry Brown Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Harry Brown rocks Blu-ray with a fantastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that, much like the film, comes to life with such authority and realism that it's easy to overlook just how natural and effortless Sony's track really is. The track handles everything thrown its way, from the lightest of atmospherics to the most intense elements of a potent low end, with equal clarity and ease. Surrounds are used to great effect throughout, whether creating the seamless environmental ambience brought about by distant music and bass in a faraway locale, chipring birds, drips of water from a faucet, or buzzing fluorescent lights. Heavier effects excel, too, whether the distinct sound of someone beating on a door that's heard in the back left corner of the soundstage in one scene, or the general din of a violent riot in another. Gunshots pound out with startling authority, while bass delivers a devastating punch throughout the low end that rattles the ribcage and, in a few cases, seems intent on tearing apart the soundstage at its very seams. Topping things off is perfect dialogue reproduction that's focused up the middle and that captures even the slightest of whispers and the harshest of screams with equal precision. No doubt about it, Sony's DTS track for Harry Brown is of reference quality through and through.

Harry Brown Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The primary supplement found on this Blu-ray release of Harry Brown is an audio commentary track with Director Daniel Barber, Producer Kris Thykier, and Actor Michael Caine. They deliver an affable but ultimately standard commentary that covers all of the expected ground, including the work of the cast, the elements of the story, humorous moments from the set, creating some of the film's effects, and plenty more. Also included is a collection of seven deleted scenes (1080p, 17:08); BD-Live functionality; MovieIQ connectivity; and 1080p trailers for The Experiment, The Square, The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, Game of Death, A Single Man, and The Road.

Harry Brown Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Harry Brown may never surpass Death Wish as the de facto Vigilante picture in the minds of the moviegoing public, that doesn't mean it's not deserving of that title. Daniel Barber's picture is one that enjoys not only slicker and better production values, but also far greater emotional depth, characterization, acting, and feel. Harry Brown's contrast between an ultra-violent criminal element and a sweet old man with nothing more to lose and caught in the middle of a world gone awry plays as the perfect set-up for a picture like this, and Michael Caine delivers a tour-de-force performance in the title role. It's certainly near the top of Caine's best efforts for the emotional complexity he brings to the character, not to mention his ability to pull off the film's difficult dialogue and action scenes extraordinarily well. Genre fans should put Harry Brown at the top of their must-see list; Vigilante pictures just don't get any better than this. Sony's Blu-ray release of Harry Brown is unfortunately absent a more thorough collection of extras, but the studio nevertheless delivers a high-quality 1080p transfer and a reference-grade lossless soundtrack. Even considering the shortage of extras, Harry Brown comes highly recommended.