Caine is Able

Just in case you haven’t been reminded of it recently: Michael Caine is awesome. In fact, as far as I can determine, Michael Caine always been awesome. When he was born in 1933, the moon was in its Awesome Phase and it aligned with the rest of the planets, which were also in their Awesome Phases, causing some sort of cosmic chain reaction which concentrated an unheard of amount of awesome into one human being. Saddled with what could’ve been the crushing burden of having to deal with that much awesome, Caine didn’t fold under the pressure, but instead used that awesome to go forth and make decades and decades worth of awesome movies, thereby only increasing his already considerable awesome into a supernova of awesomeness.

Now, past the age of 75, he continues this unparalleled awesome streak with Harry Brown, essentially the Michael Caine/British version of Dirty Harry. Harry Brown was my favourite film at this year’s TIFF for a lot of reasons, but the primary one being that it’s a revenge film starring a pensioner… played by Michael Caine. It’s helmed by first-time feature director Daniel Barber (imagine scoring Caine to star in your first feature) and it was penned by Gary Young, who has written a few minor crime/action features.

The story for the film is pretty simple. Harry Brown is a widower living on his pension in a run-down apartment complex. Gangs of young thugs routinely destroy the place and terrorize the residents. Harry’s best (and only) friend stands up to them and is violently murdered, leading Harry to revisit his old ways as a royal marine, pitting him against the thugs – all while a police detective (played by Emily Mortimer) investigates. He’s outnumbered, outgunned and nearly crippled by age and illness, but he’s cunning, well-trained and extremely resourceful. And he’s Michael Goddamned Caine: you can’t defeat that kind of awesomeness – just accept it.

This is a straight-up revenge movie, and the novelty of senior-as-action-hero has been explored in many a Clint Eastwood movie, and before that in films such as Tough Guys, and before that in loads of westerns, including John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence and Sam Pekinpah’s Ride the High Country. But Caine brings so many layers to the character that it elevates the film considerably. Harry is loving husband, a proper British gent and a man with a code; but he’s also a soldier, a killer and an unrepentant man of violence when he’s pushed. Once Harry comes to terms with his dark side (a past that’s only hinted at), he gets a serpentine glint in his eyes that recalls one of his greatest characters, Jack Carter in 1971’s Get Carter. (And if you haven’t seen Get Carter, well, I don’t know what to say – you might as well gouge out your eyes, you’ve wasted them…) It’s no surprise that Harry wears a vaguely similar coat to that of Jack – he could be that character four decades mellower.

Eastwood has questioned the violent nature and deeds of his aging characters over and over again in his films. Here, Harry also questions his return to violence, but quickly embraces it, with vengeance as his singular mission. The moody, washed out cinematography, exceptional electronic soundtrack and some delectable dialogue (“You failed to maintain your weapon,” rasps Harry before offing a junkie) are the elements that make this one of the best films of the year.

So, you’ve appreciated Caine of late in supporting roles in The Dark Knight movies, The Prestige and Children of Men, but this is a chance to see him in the lead, when the film opens later in the year. And when you’re done watching Harry clean up the streets, you’ll want to watch Get Carter, of course, and then some of Caine’s older classics – the likes of Death Trap, Sleuth (the original one), The Italian Job, A Bridge Too Far and Alfie.

Just be careful you don’t overdose on awesome. I warned you.

 

-Dave Alexander

Comments

Def. want to see this too! Comparisons to Bronson's Death Wish sold me when I read about this flick in the UK.