Harry Brown might just about have got by as a tongue-in-cheek popcorn romp, but by setting itself up as a virtual state-of-the-nation address it only draws attention to its own petty, embittered vacuity.

A lot to digest stylistically and narratively, but Harry Brown is developed in an ever-increasing, shock-inducing manner and is undeniably successful.

Caine, that master of gentle sadness, lets us know Harry immediately as a good man trying to get by -- and trying to understand what seems like madness.

Billed by some as a spiritual sequel to the classic 1970s crime drama Get Carter, this British vigilante thriller also casts Caine as a ruthless hard man, albeit one in advancing years.