Harry Brown

You might call it the English Gran Torino. A compellingly grouchy character study and a banging geriatric revenge thriller, Harry Brown offers Michael Caine plenty of opportunities for tough guy thespian showboating. The esteemed actor doesn’t merely leap on the screenplay’s swagger; he only goes and blows the bloody doors off. Daily Mail approved, chav-scum bashing. 
Shot with a superb eye for kitchen sink detail – a neat way of grounding the film’s Death Wish tendencies – our titular hero is an ex-Marine with a dying wife. When his best pal falls victim to local chav hooligans, Harry is forced to take matters into his own hands. A posh local police officer (Emily Mortimer) has her suspicions, but will she be able to intervene before Harry takes out the human trash?  Like Mr. Eastwood’s acting swansong, there are plenty of dodgy Daily Mail-friendly ideas about council estate scum underlying the rip-roaring set-pieces, but the director’s deft naturalism coupled with Gary Young’s restrained screenplay allow us to enjoy the vigilante thrills without troubling the conscience.