Nothing to do with 'Peanuts'

I'm only going to have to give a short review today as I've got to go and see some sort of hypno-therapist that the clinic sorted out for me. Normally I wouldn't mind, but they've got one of those stupid revolving doors. Who invented revolving doors? I'll tell you who, an idiot.

Neonsamurai's 'Harry Brown' review:

At first I didn't want to watch this as I thought it was a remake of those stupid, bloody 'Peanuts' cartoons, with that autistic dog Snoopy. Why is it so bloody cool to have autism, yet when someone maybe has mild persecutory delusions, or maybe erotomania then they need to have some CBT? Where did Snoopy find the money to buy all of his costumes? He's a dog. Technically he hasn't got the means to even carry money, unless he held it in his mouth (which you shouldn't do in case a tramp has been holding it). I can suspend disbelief to a point (which is why I liked 'The Patriot'), but there's a limit, and that limit is Snoopy.

But the film isn't about Charlie Brown it's about Harry Brown, who is played by Sir Michael Caine. Harry lives on an estate in London where loads of thuggish teenagers terrorise anyone who comes along, so Harry tries to avoid them, but in doing so can't get to the hospital in time to see his ill wife die. Oooh! That made both Dave and myself very angry (and a bit sad)! Then to cap it all the same teenage thugs kill Harry's only friend. Not only that, but the police show little or no interest. Yet when a man mistakenly walks into the changing rooms of Top Shop and begins taking his clothes off they bloody well turn up like gang-busters. I can only hypothesize that if you are being chased by a gang of murderers, then removing your clothes will get a faster police response than calling 999.

Harry decides that enough is enough and decides to take on the thugs using the only language they understand; bad language. And also by shooting them. I'm no legal expert, but this seems to work very well. Dave said that it's pretty much what he'd do if some kids were threatening an old man, or some girls. I pointed out that the kids who hang out around 'Chick n' Fish' are always hassling me and making fun of my coat, but he always runs off when they start. Apparently this is because when he was special forces he was only trained to kill, not subdue, so he was running away to protect those kids, which sort of makes sense I think.

But no sooner has the fully-clothed Harry begun shooting thugs that the police begin investigating the deaths and start tracking him down. They don't go straight around his house and begin asking his mum if he was at home when someone matching his description let a wild animal loose in 'The Lounge' nightclub (probably because he doesn't live with his mum) but sort of ask open and leading questions, trying to catch him out. But Harry's a bit smart and keeps his cool.

'Harry Brown' is a very powerful and moving film about shooting mouthy, little bastards. It's so good, in fact, that I'm going to give it an Oscar (my new marking system) for being a really good film. Other films you might like involving young thugs who need a bloody good hiding include the 'Death Wish' series, 'Payback', 'Death Sentence' and 'Goonies'.