Harry Brown
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: April 30, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
13
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Time OutDavid Fear
We like our secondhand vengeance as sleazy and bloody as the next grindhouse fiend, but even an intentional throwback shouldn’t feel content to coast on so much déjà vu. Read full review
60
TimeMary Pols
Tawdry but compelling. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Here's a rough-and-tumble British drama that, despite a strong spine, ought to be more like its title character: quiet and deadly -- and less showy. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Part punk-drab British art-house portrait of underclass despair, part bloody vigilante pic, Harry Brown is shakily held together by industrial-strength sound design and the expertly employed theatrics of Michael Caine in the title role. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Alas, the drama surrounding him (Caine) rarely rouses anything but yawns. Read full review
50
ObserverRex Reed
Michael Caine is such a consummate actor that it's a major cause of concern to see him in Harry Brown, another hateful vigilante flick the wags in England have already labeled Dirty Harry Brown for reasons that are immediately obvious. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
There's a deceptive gravitas to the British vigilante thriller Harry Brown that some are bound to mistake for class--or even truth--in the way it grapples with one man's violent stand against societal decay. Much of that is owed to Michael Caine, an actor of such rare dignity and stature that audiences are naturally willing to follow him anywhere, including into the heart of truly risible material. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
In "Gran Torino," Eastwood took on the moral issues that screenwriter Gary Young and first-time director Daniel Barber studiously avoid. It's the difference between riveting and repellent. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The stark direction, the brittle performances, the impoverished setting, the scatological dialogue, everything about the film screams out "Gritty social realism." Everything, that is, except the plot, which shouts "Eye-rolling melodrama." Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
After a long run of baroquely plotted crime dramas like "Layer Cake'' and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,'' it's a little depressing to come across a vigilante drama whose sole twist is its protagonist's advanced age. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Thoroughly derivative, and it doesn't illuminate youth crime -- it exploits it. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Mr. Caine is one of the few reasons to sit through Harry Brown, an exercise in art-house exploitation directed by Daniel Barber and tarted up with self-importance and a generally striking visual design. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Exploitative and crass, the film paints an ugly portrait of youth gone wild and the ineffectuality of the police to curb the menace. Read full review
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