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Harry Brown

Harry Brown (2009)

tomatometer

64

Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 117
Fresh: 75 | Rotten: 42

Its lurid violence may put off some viewers, but Harry Brown is a vigilante thriller that carries an emotional as well as a physical punch, thanks to a gripping performance from Michael Caine in the title role.

54

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 13

Its lurid violence may put off some viewers, but Harry Brown is a vigilante thriller that carries an emotional as well as a physical punch, thanks to a gripping performance from Michael Caine in the title role.

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 39,843

My Rating

Movie Info

Academy Award nominee Daniel Barber (The Tonto Woman) makes his feature directorial debut with this gritty critique on contemporary British society starring Michael Caine as an elderly shut-in who's spurred to action by a senseless act of violence. Harry Brown (Caine) resides in a desolate public-housing apartment block as his sickly wife lies dying in a local hospital. He spends most of his days in solitude, only getting out to play the occasional game of chess at a nearby pub with his best

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

Gary Young

Aug 31, 2010

$1.8M

Samuel Goldwyn Films

Harry Brown Trailer & Photos

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More Trailers and Videos (10)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Harry Brown

All Critics (118) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (78) | Rotten (43) | DVD (9)

After a long run of baroquely plotted crime dramas like Layer Cake and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, it's a little depressing to come across a vigilante drama whose sole twist is its protagonist's advanced age.

June 10, 2010 Full Review Source: Boston Globe | Comment (1)
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's simply the tale of a man who decides to do something and sticks to his guns, so to speak. That the man is played by Michael Caine is what makes it worthwhile.

May 27, 2010 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | Comments (3)
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

On one side, it's all compellingly believable; on the other, it's simply incredible. We do our best to straddle the rift but, in the end, the gulf proves too wide, the contrast too great, and a tumbling movie takes us down with it.

May 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment (1)
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film ranks right up there with Sleuth, Get Carter and Mona Lisa as being amongst Caineâ(TM)s toughest and best performances.

May 20, 2010 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment (1)
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In Gran Torino, Eastwood took on the moral issues that screenwriter Gary Young and first-time director Daniel Barber studiously avoid. It's the difference between riveting and repellent.

May 14, 2010 Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | Comment (1)
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Such familiarity can breed contempt among all but the most bloodthirsty, and it would in Harry Brown as well if not for Caine, who somehow breathes life into the most cardboard of characters.

May 14, 2010 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment (1)
Tom Long
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

By the end, it's turned from a geriatric Death Wish into a one-dimensional Taxi Driver...

September 4, 2010 Full Review Source: Seanax.com | Comment (1)
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com

The fact that he was trained to deal with violence in Ireland plays into his character, and the murky moral and political shadings the story takes on.

September 2, 2010 Full Review Source: KPBS.org | Comment
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

"[Caine] elevates this grim vigilante-fest from pretty darn good to essential viewing."

August 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Flicks.co.nz | Comment (1)
Steve Newall
Flicks.co.nz

Although Caine lives up to expectations in this nicely crafted (though violent) film, the oversimplified story he's given to work with keeps it from the top of Caine's impressive filmography.

August 11, 2010 Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | Comment (1)
Alison Gang
San Diego Union-Tribune

Caine's geriatric slasher may have gripes against UK youngsters with bad behavior. But the 'don't trust anyone under thirty' carnage, is really not the role model example that the elders should be setting, by killing 'em all and sorting 'em out later.

August 1, 2010 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comment
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Harry Brown is a more meditative take on garden variety exploitation, but its attraction lies in the same guilty pleasure centers of the brain that exult in a kind of movie violence that is the very opposite of senseless.

July 18, 2010 Full Review Source: DCist | Comment (1)
Ian Buckwalter
DCist

Caine, that master of gentle sadness, lets us know Harry immediately as a good man trying to get by -- and trying to understand what seems like madness.

July 1, 2010 Full Review Source: Seattle Times | Comment (1)
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

A very good film -- albeit very violent and bloody -- and contains yet another splendid Michael Caine performance. I'm not complaining too much based on those grounds alone.

July 1, 2010 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | Comment (1)
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Maybe Michael Caine just wanted to make his "death wish" before kickin' his "bucket list." Say what you wanna say, but I'd rather watch old-timers bust gums than tandem parachute with Morgan Freeman while John Mayer plays softly in the background.

June 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Richmond.com | Comment (1)
Mike Ward
Richmond.com Source: Richmond.com

In the hands of a lesser actor, this would feel just as clichéd as it sounds. But Caine brings his smarts as well as his baggage to the character, making him more than another mad-as-hell guy with a gun.

June 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Comments (2)
Chris Foran
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A revenge fantasy that recalls the Charles Bronson Death Wish series and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, Daniel ... would be unremarkable if not for the grave, lowered gaze of Michael Caine and the relentless grittiness of its cinematography.

June 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Comments (2)
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Forget those boring, ludicrously overpriced, would-be summer blockbusters and go see the art of vigilante-movie-making done to a fare-thee-well. Caine's Harry makes bad-boy Russell Crowe's Robin Hood look like a sissy.

June 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Boston Herald | Comment (1)
James Verniere
Boston Herald

This latest in the slumming mini-genre offers a couple of new wrinkles: Michael Caine and self-righteous, soul-satisfying vigilante justice.

June 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | Comments (2)
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Harry Brown

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Disappointing, considering the praise heaped upon it, particularly by the British film press. It's certainly a brave choice of project for Michael Caine, which left me wishing I'd enjoyed it rather more than I did, but it didn't really work for me. Given the grimness of the subject matter, I'm ashamed to admit that I

December 3, 2009
harrycaul
Stephen M

Super Reviewer

02/01/2012 (PS3, NETFLIX)

March 22, 2010
EightThirty
EightThirty .

Super Reviewer

Harry Brown Quotes

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    1. D.I. Frampton: It's not Northern Ireland Harry.
    2. Harry Brown: No it's not. Those people were fighting for something; for a cause. To them out there, this is just entertainment.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
    1. Harry Brown: I don't reckon you've got long. Seen that before. Gut wound. The slug's probably torn right through your liver. Mate of mine in Ulster got caught in sniper fire. Bullet blew his inside out. He screamed for a good 10 minutes. We couldn't send a medic in, the section was too hot. So we all took cover... and watched him die. I've never told that... to anyone... you should've called an ambulance... for the girl...
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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