BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Critical Eye UK Except it isn't. And it never was. Life up north in the 1970s -- and especially, England's Northeast -- was nothing like the monochrome wasteland presented here. Nor was policing like this, either, despite the protestations of those connected with this low-rent low-budget outing.Absent its premise, therefore, of hard men in hard times in hard places, "Harrigan" is no more than a straight-to-video made-for-TV affair, its simplicities of plot and characterisation conveyed via clichés so stupefyingly banal that one positively yearns for the raw energy of yesteryear's Caine and Hodges in the same part of the world at the same time as this."Harrigan" doesn't convince at any level. Stephen Tompkinson has already had a stab at playing a TV policeman -- the leaden "DCI Banks" -- and failed utterly in that role, so why he's here essaying the same kind of grim teeth-gritted stoicism all over again is baffling.About the only thing that does ring true is the way "Harrigan" -- too close to Don Siegel's "Madigan" for my liking, though it's doubtful anyone involved in this British production will even have heard of that superb US police procedural -- seems to have been shot on a budget typical of a 1970s British TV show.But that doesn't redeem anything. Unrelentingly drab, dismal, and derivative of a thousand B-Movies that have gone before -- including Westerns as well as copper operas -- "Harrigan" is yet another example, were such needed, of how small-scale British movie making is today incapable of working the crime genre in the way that films like "Violent Playground" and "Never Let Go" did, half a century and more ago.Still, at least there's some originality in the write-in campaign that seems to be underway where this comment thread is concerned -- a case for investigation by Detective Harrigan, perhaps? Or IMDb itself . .

davidfurlotte One of the main criteria that I judge movies by is how they motivate or don't motivate me to go check out more about them and this movie definitely motivated me.I grew up through the 70's and I was surprised when the movie stated in the beginning that Britain was going through a period of strife with a 3 day work week and blackouts because they were rationing power. Now mind you, I was in High School and needless to say World News was not at the top of my list of things to keep informed about but I was shocked that I had somehow missed that bit of recent history.In any case, onto the movie. I loved the acting, the grittiness of the characters and the downright humanity of it all. I didn't feel like I was watching a movie as much as I was watching a story being told about real people and real events. Kudos to everyone who had a part in this from the best boy up to the Executive Producer.If you want to watch a good movie made on what would today be considered a shoestring budget, you need to watch "Harrigan"

Mark Forster I don't know who Jessica Lear is, but either she was watching a different film or she has a personal grudge against someone in the crew. A gritty, believable story, well shot, well researched locations, with characters you can really feel for and understand. The authentic 70s feel of the film, right down to the cinematography, is perfect. The dark, brooding undercurrent of the film encapsulates well the desperate and depressing mood the UK, and particularly the north, was suffering in the mid-seventies, without masking the human story behind the main characters. The touches of humour, just took the hard edge off the violence, and strong visual and audible content, to make this a thoroughly enjoyable film, well worth going to see. The storyline and the characters have enough mileage left in them for a sequel or TV series to follow. Good luck to all involved, it is heartening to see a good British film without the mockney mafia involved.

Lauren Robinson Based around Detective Sergeant Barry Harrigan and his mission for justice amongst the desperation and fear growing in a crime ridden estate in northern England. This film is grim, dark, intense, gritty and violent, set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 1970's. The cast deliver solid and believable performances, especially Stephen Tomkinson, Bill Fellows and Craig Conway. There is definitely a feel of suspense throughout and the film also has the right amount of relief by humour in places. Many will be leaving the cinema wondering how many of Mr McKenzie's stories within the film are true! I was one of them! Great film. Definitely worth a watch. Especially if you are from Northern England.