This is a vigilante movie with artistic pretensions and an elderly hero. Michael Caine, at 77, is half a decade older than Charles Bronson was when he made the last Death Wish movie. But this isn’t hack work. In fact, Caine gives one of his best performances as a grief-stricken widower angered when thugs target his best friend, who lives in a seedy London housing complex. As a portrait of grief and loss, the movie is quite good. There’s an aura of sadness about Caine even as he metes out some rough justice. Director Daniel Barber (working from a screenplay by Gary Young) takes the same spare approach as in his excellent short western, The Tonto Woman. On the other hand, the film can’t quite escape the trappings of its sub-genre. Harry and even the policewoman played by Emily Mortimer are solid characters, but the thugs are standard-issue villains simply put there to arouse Harry’s righteous fury. And ours. Just barely recommended.
IMDB link
viewed 4/11/10 at Prince [PFS Spring Preview Festival] and reviewed 5/18/10
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