Vigilante Justice

I am excited to announce that a new feature has come to Filmizon.com – the ability to do a Dual/Duel movie review. I can think of no better way of putting the new set-up to the test than comparing one of the best films of 2008 – Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, to a lesser known, but equally strong picture – 2009’s Harry Brown, starring Michael Caine.

Eastwood plays an aging veteran, Walt Kowalski, living in his old neighbourhood that has drastically changed. He is now surrounded by a growing Asian-American population that rubs him the wrong way. In the British flick, Harry Brown is played by Michael Caine, who is in quite a similar situation to Kowalski, only in his case the locality has become a slummy, seemingly hopeless housing project.

In Gran Torino, Eastwood (who also directs the flick) returns to a role that he has played for decades. His gruff attitude and no-nonsense values are reminiscent of earlier roles like Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry or The Stranger in the western High Plains Drifter. As the film progresses, the character finds common ground with his young neighbours, Thao and Sue, leading him to forge a bond with them. He then gets involved in their lives by helping to prevent the boy from being forced into a violent gang in vintage Eastwood fashion and in very different ways as well.

In Harry Brown, Caine plays a former marine whose wife is terminally ill in the hospital. Late one night, he gets the call that his beloved is dying and hurries to be at her side. On the way, he is forced to take a longer route due to a young mob of dangerous teenagers occupying a tunnel – the shortest way to the hospital. He sadly misses saying good-bye to his wife and along with another appalling act that affects him deeply, Harry Brown decides to take the job of cleaning up the streets into his own fragilely seasoned hands.

Both movies are spectacular. The stories are strongly written and hold many memorable as well as shocking moments. The acting performances from both leads are flawless. Eastwood channels his vintage persona and brings experience to a mostly unknown cast. Caine is able to bring forward a nuanced performance that entails grit mixed with an aged fragility. British character actors Emily Mortimer (HBO’s Newsroom, Shutter Island), David Bradley (Filch from Harry Potter), Iain Glen (HBO’s Game of Thrones, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) all put forward strong efforts and round out the impressive cast of the British picture. Yet, the man who stands out above other supporting cast members and puts forth one of the creepiest performances in film history, playing Stretch, is Sean Harris (Prometheus, The Borgias), whose emaciated figure and tattooed skin looks as though it is going to fall off of his bones. He is entirely convincing as a drugged up villain who is always dangling precariously on the edge.

After talking to countless people about Gran Torino, it is clear that almost everyone who viewed the film has more than fond memories of it. I very much see Harry Brown as a darker British version of its American counterpart, and I hope that many of you will give it a chance so that it gains the size of audience it deserves.

In the end, though the two films have several similarities, they unfold quite differently. Both are successful vehicles for the veteran leads and have superb endings. If you are in the mood for two brilliant movies, watch Gran Torino and Harry Brown; they will ‘make your day’!