What accounts for the enduring appeal of vigilante films?

Simple answer – Because the world is full of pussies without cojones, viewers like to experience the vicarious thrill of going after the bad guys bham, bham.

Of course, we’re different from all ye cojone-less schmucks.

We picked Harry Brown for one reason, and one reason only – Because we love the British actor Michael Caine, the lead player in this vigilante movie released last year.

For the many dolts lurking here, Michael Caine is Batman’s butler Alfred. Rings a bell?

Although we planned to see the movie in the theater, that never happened and we eagerly awaited the DVD.

Disappointing
Alas, what a disappointment the movie turned out to be.

Sure, the old man Michael Caine was good. The acting, the charming British accent and all of that.

The other lesser actors turned in a decent job too.

But the movie itself lacked a powerful, gripping story to keep you engrossed.

Just another vigilante tale where Harry’s old chess-playing buddy and fellow pensioner Len is killed by a bunch of young hoodlums who are terrorizing the residents of the housing project.

Len’s death and before that the police inaction regarding his complaint of harassment by the young thugs jolts our ex-Marine to take the law into his old-hands.

Since the old codger has seen service in Ireland, taking on the young thugs, for whom violence is merely entertainment as he laments in bitterness, is a cakewalk.

Emily Mortimer, the pretty British actress who we’ve seen in Match Point and Transsiberian, plays a cop but has a minor role.

This is through and through Michael Caine’s film.

Of course, Harry Brown is not as crude as Charles Bronson’s Death Wish movies.

But that’s small consolation indeed for the viewer who wasted 103-minutes on this junk that never rises above the mediocre.

Harry Brown is available at Netflix and the RedBox kiosks in the U.S.

  Michael Caine