Edge Of Darkness

Mel Gibson has been behind the cameras lately rather than in front. He has also had quite a lot of tabloid problems. But that's something I'm not interested in.

When I heard about this film, while on the one hand I was excited to see Mel return to the screen in an acting capacity, I was a bit disappointed by the fact that had chosen another revenge film. The story is pretty stock standard stuff: cop or law enforcer must avenge the death of a loved one. While that might be the case and there is a little predictability it is still a decent film. Director Martin Campbell is working on a much smaller scale to his last few films and does a good job. He is able to keep you interested in the story despite its familiarity. There are enough twists and he is able to cleverly reveal the right information at the right time to keep you in your seat. The conspiracy theory in the plot I was quite pleased with as well. The film is based on a miniseries and is sometimes the case I often wonder how they were able to stretch out a slim plot to a longer length. Martin Campbell can normally stretch films out quite well but I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to restrain himself here.

I've always been a fan of Mel Gibson. He is great at doing a variety of roles from comedy to drama. As mentioned above I was disappointed with this film because we have seen him do it so often. Mel is able to bring his experience to make this role a little better than I expected. He does not go all that much insane as he normally does which was a nice point of difference. Ray Winstone is another excellent actor and gives a very cool performance here. On the opposite side of that spectrum is Danny Houston. I did not like his character and not because he was the bad guy. He has a few encounters with Mel in the film and comes across as a rather weak and cowardly. I expected bad guys in this situation to be tougher.

A decent crime thriller that does not break any new ground but is a bit of a fun ride. I think we can expect more from Mel's next film which I'm going to announce here and now that he will win the Academy Award for at next years Oscars.