Fair or not, audiences and critics are going to judge Edge of Darkness entirely by its star. The last time we saw Mel Gibson in front of a camera, it was a mug shot and he was on the edge of some personal darkness. And even before his anti-Semitic drunken tirade, he had evolved from beloved action star to lightning rod director.
Through it all, his talent was never in question. But do we like Mel Gibson? Are audiences willing to pay to see him again?
Edge of Darkness was a good choice for him. It’s opening among the mediocrity of post-holiday movies and when we’re still ranking the best of last year – so the stakes aren’t going to be all that high anyway. And the story of a veteran detective investigating his own daughter’s murder is certainly going to appeal to his fan base. Audiences should like a family man out to do good who has enough of an edge that action fans will like him. He needs to be hero, not an anti-hero, and it’s certainly too soon for the guy who called a female cop “sugar t**s” to play a romantic lead. You can’t help but notice there is no female lead in Edge of Darkness. So – good choice, Mel.
And Gibson delivers. He’s a convincing tough guy without being a superman. You believe he can be hurt, and you believe he can hurt someone back. His character Tommy Craven is essentially an older version of the father he played in Ransom and even The Patriot (on the big screen, one can’t help but notice how much Gibson has aged since we saw him in Signs eight years ago. The wrinkles are there. It adds to the paternal character, but it’s certainly worth noting).
As long as we’re over-analyzing Gibson, given the controversy over the excellent The Passion of the Christ and some of the issues he’s had with his own extremely opinionated father, one can’t help but notice Tommy Craven’s an Irish Catholic. You’re more aware of a couple of lines about the Crucifixion than you would be if say, Bruce Willis were in the role.
Edge of Darkness is just the type of movie Gibson should be in, but it’s only on the edge of being a good movie. It’s on the edge of being an all-out action movie; it’s on the edge of being a murder mystery, and on the edge of being a political thriller. It only touches on and is only average at each.
It’s especially disappointing as a mystery. Tommy’s daughter is gunned down right in front of him, and the police assume it must have something to do with his old cases. Yet right before, she tells him she “has to tell him something,” and she gets mysteriously and violently ill. The shooting happens as he’s rushing her to the hospital. So why wouldn’t Tommy want her body examined? Why wouldn’t he want an autopsy? You’re a detective, Tommy: detect! Halfway through the movie, when we learn why she was sick, my only thought was “Duh!”
And the political thriller edge? It’s lowest-common-denominator political stuff with easy targets and obvious villains. Credit should go though to Ray Winstone as a shadowy “fix-it” man whose allegiances aren’t clear. He provides some much-needed dark humor.
In fact, director Martin Campbell and writers William Monahan and Andrew Bovell have scripted such an uninspired mystery, they decide halfway through to just tell us who did it. Then we impatiently wait for Tommy to catch up. The time wasted on the amateurish mystery gets in the way of what could have been a good action movie -- because the moments of violence are intense and sudden (I was startled by a couple of them, in their swiftness and their noise).
Mel Gibson has dipped his toes into the water. This is the edge of a comeback, but he’s not quite there yet.
Edge of Darkness (2009)
CAST & CREW:
Starring: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic and Shawn Roberts.
Directed By: Martin Campbell
Written By: William Monahan and Andrew Bovell based on the television series written by Troy Kennedy-Martin
Produced By: Tim Headington, Graham King, Michael Wearing
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: January 29, 2010 (Showtimes & Tickets)
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures