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February 3, 2010

Mel Gibson's back in 'Edge of Darkness

By STEVE OUELLETTE, Movie Review

It's been eight years since Mel Gibson's last starring role (2002's "Signs"), and it's nice to have him back — despite his very public personal failings, he's a heck of an entertainer.

"Edge of Darkness" will not go down as one of his best, but it's a perfectly acceptable, at times engrossing, revenge mystery.

The story is labyrinthine, to say the least, and at times just plain confusing, but there's enough action and emotion to keep things going "¦ and few people do revenge better than Gibson.

Gibson stars as hard-boiled Boston cop Thomas Craven, whose only family is his 20-something, MIT-educated daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) — and she doesn't always do a good job of keeping in touch.

When the movie begins, father and daughter are trying to reconnect, but the poignant family moment is interrupted when someone screams "Craven!" and pumps a deadly shotgun blast into the daughter.

The cops believe that the killer was gunning for the dad and merely had bad aim, but soon Craven uncovers clues that lead to a different conclusion.

Based on a British miniseries also made by the film's director, Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale"), "Edge of Darkness" seems to have crammed as many plot twists and characters into the film as he could, and it feels a bit crowded.

There's a mysterious corporation that does bad things and a bunch of confusing links that keep the story going from point to point — even if we're often not sure why.

Ray Winstone plays a mysterious government fixer whose goals, methods and reasons are all ambiguous. The character floats randomly through the film and could be a serious flaw, but in Winstone's capable hands, he actually adds to the enjoyment. The interactions between Winstone and Gibson are some of the movie's best moments.

Some of the other acting choices were questionable, though. For instance, there were two characters I immediately knew were bad guys merely because of their past roles. That's bad casting. If you don't want someone to know your secret villain, put some effort into surprising us.

"Edge of Darkness" boasts a lot of similarities to last year's Liam Neeson thriller, "Taken." It doesn't have quite the same adrenaline, but it should appeal to the same audience.

We've seen Gibson play this kind of character before, but he does it so well, it's worthwhile to see him do it again.

Rental recommendation: The Boston accents were slightly better in "The Departed." Grade: A.

E-mail Steve Ouellette at: ouellette1918@gmail.com

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