Many of you may not have heard of the film 'Harry Brown' (as it's a British film starring Michael Caine), and many of you may see it as a cheap British rip-off of Clint Eastwood's 'Gran Torino'.
However, after seeing the film twice now I can assure you that a cheap rip-off it is not; instead it is one of the best films of 2009 (and of the last decade), featuring one of the finest actors to ever grace our screens.
The film basically follows the main character (Harry Brown) who lives on one of the worst estates in England (right in the heart of 'Elephant and Castle' in London).
Harry and his neighbours are tormented day and night by a gang of youths that seem to run riot without any fear of consequences or police intervention.
If you're from England or have live in England for a meaningful period of time (especially in the suburbs of a large city) then you'll no doubt be familiar with what we call 'chavs'.
Chavs are essentially the scum of society in that they are no-hope teenagers with nothing better to do than hanging around on street corners (or in this film's case, in an underpass) and abusing everyone that walks past.
I feel that a big part of the appeal of watching Harry Brown is seeing Michael Caine (who is, after all one of the country's greatest ever actors) beating up a group of chavs because they killed his best friend.
They say that films are essentially just fantasies, and I know many people that would love to do what Caine does in this film, so they find the viewing experience almost therapeutic.