| 28 January 2010
In need to avenge the violent murder of a brother, sister, lover, wife, best friend or significant other? Then Mel Gibson is your man, for vengeance is his middle name. He’s been in the revenge business since 1979 when he exploded on the big screen as Mad Max (although he’s been quite good at some other non-revenge driven roles). For he, in the words of Ezekiel 25:17, as quoted by Samuel Jackson in “Pulp Fiction,” will always “strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.” And, boy, when it comes to smiting enemies with righteous anger, Mel does it in a no-nonsense, almighty kinda way.
Most of “Edge of Darkness,” his first on-screen performance in eight years, is curiously understated for a Mel Gibson-revenge flick. Mad Mel doesn’t really get to wreck havoc until the third act (although he, the scriptwriters and director Martin Campbell offer hints of what he’s capable here and there). In fact, the movie allows his character, Boston police officer Thomas Craven, enough time to simmer as he tries to uncover the truth behind his daughter’s murder. You can see that anger come to a boiling point underneath Mel’s craggy, rock-solid face during the film’s first two acts as he tries to balance his character’s grief with his determination to get to the bottom of things.
As the film opens, Craven waits for his daughter Emma’s arrival at the train station. She is an intern for a government-connected research and development energy company called Northmoor. Emma is hiding a deadly secret, so deadly that her nose begins to bleed and she vomits in Craven’s dining room. But before they can go to the doctor, Emma is blown away by a shotgun blast right in Craven’s doorstep, with Craven by her side.
Craven’s colleagues in the police force believe that he was the intended target. But as Craven searches through Emma’s belongings, he begins to suspect that she may have been the actual target. So he tracks down her cell phone contacts, including a boyfriend he didn’t know she had and who might be in on the deadly secret as well. The investigation eventually leads him to Northmoor and its slimy, smooth-talking CEO played by Danny Huston with characteristic unctuousness.
Emma’s ghost as a small child and her disembodied voice haunts Craven’s investigation, pushing him forward. Fortunately, the film spares us any “in-between” scenes a la “The Lovely Bones.” The plot device could be seen as uncharacteristic for a thriller where it not for the fact that it was already used in the original six-part 1985 BBC miniseries upon which the film is based. The device sometimes feels contrived, an artificial mechanism used to underline Craven’s grief and sorrow. But, given the little time dedicated to the actual father-daughter relationship at the beginning of the film, it becomes pretty hard to fully identify with his sorrow.
“Edge of Darkness” comes alive when Gibson confronts the movie’s baddies: Huston and the always amazing Ray Winstone as the government operative brought in to fix the mess created by Northmoor. The scenes between Gibson and Winstone are finely calibrated and terrific. These two tough actors measure each other up, playing to each other’s strengths, making you wish that somebody could build a cop movie or series around them.
The movie’s conspiracy plot seems a tad outdated. Yet, the third act is cathartic and in a troubling way, emotionally satisfying. Although I wonder what the political pundits will make of the fact that one of the key players in this conspiracy is none other than a Republican senator from Massachusetts.
CAFE'S RATING SYSTEM:
FOUR SHOTS: The perfect brew
THREE SHOTS: A decent brew
TWO SHOTS: A weak brew
ONE SHOT: Tastes like tar
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