‘Gibson back in full-throttle form!’

Combining a “Taken” velocity with a “Ransom” web of corruption, “Edge of Darkness” packs a heavy pitch of excitement, and in his first acting role since 2002 (“We Were Soldiers”), Mel Gibson knocks it out of the park. From the trailers, it looks like a typical action saga centered on another angry father who must avenge the death of a loved one, but as he proved in “Casino Royale,” Martin Campbell knows how to dig deep into a skeletal premise, and this is one instance where all of a film’s greatness hides underneath the previews, and leaves viewers feeling pleasantly surprised when they leave the theater.

The film was written by William Monahan, who also wrote “The Departed.” Like that film, this one is also set in an Irish community of Boston where the location in and of itself plays a key role in the story. We’ve all seen plenty of crime thrillers set in upscale territories like New York and Los Angeles, but what is it about Boston? Anytime Hollywood visits the most ominous dimension of the Northeast, there seems to always be a deeper set of roots to the conflict. Look at “Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone.” The characters are multi-layered, the details are more visceral, and as the story develops, the moral impact usually stretches way beyond just the few immediate players.

The most immediate character in this case is Thomas Craven (Gibson). He’s a veteran homicide detective who lives for only two causes: his job, and his daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic). The opening credits provide us with a brief look at her childhood and how close the two of them were as she matured. Then as it settles into the present, we see that as an adult, Emma doesn’t have as much time for her father as they would like.

Her time as a character is cut short even more when she is gunned down in what appears to be an attempt to kill Craven. He’s a cop, so obviously there are plenty of people who would want him dead, but as the details begin to unfold, it becomes apparent that “daddy’s little girl” had something to hide.

From this point forward, the movie literally runs full speed with Gibson leading the charge in one of the most ruthless performances of his career. Any other actor could have easily succumbed to the action formula by just pointing a gun and looking tough, but Gibson has done this kind of thing before, and in balancing all the physical struggles with the personal agony of grief, he finds a solid connection to Craven’s character that convinces us to follow him through every sharp turn.

Another crucial player in Craven’s journey is Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), a shady CIA official who suddenly lands on is front door to offer some assistance. Some of you may recognize Winstone as “Mr. French” from “The Departed,” and in his usual tough-guy form, Winstone gives a persuasive charm to an otherwise sadistic persona that is about as mysterious as the details of Emma’s death. It’s never quite clear as to what Jedburgh’s intentions are or who specifically he works for, but keeping his motives in the dark goes hand-in-hand with Craven’s vengeful dark side as it starts rapidly overpowering his ability to follow the standard detective’s procedure.

While I object to neither angle from which to accentuate the level of entertainment, I have found that there is a fine line between political thrillers and crime mysteries. The former of the two comes with an extended obligation to entice current events into the plot. And even if several great actors are cast in the roles, everything becomes too one-dimensional, and the plot is all that drives the film in the end.

As its plot unfolds, “Edge of Darkness” comes dangerously close to slipping into a political facade, but Campbell has obviously studied the aforementioned trap, and knows exactly how to shift the focus back into a personal narrative. He did the same thing in “Casino Royale” by taking an in-depth look at James Bond, while all the other Bond flicks were centered on a global issue pertaining to the time of their release. You could think of it as a routine homicide investigation, or you could think of it as a morality tale of vengeance. Either way, “Edge of Darkness” is a satisfying thriller that will send you home not thinking about how good Craven is at his job, but how conflicted he is as a person with nothing to lose. And maybe it’s just me, but an afterthought such as this is bound to lead viewers to the ultimate consideration: … what if it were my daughter?

Posted by Chris Moskaly on Jan 29 2010. Filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry