Edge of Darkness (2010) **
Written by: William Monahan and Andrew Bovell
Produced by: Tim Headington, Graham King, and Michael Wearing
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Rated R (strong bloody violence and language…and that’s a quote)
Running time: 117 min.
Mel Gibson is back in the saddle again and doing what he does best in this Boston-based crime drama directed by Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”). Having not been in a leading role since M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs”, Gibson is Tom Craven, a detective in the Boston Police Department who gets put in a corner and left with no other choice but to fight against “the man” after the murder of his daughter (it’s in the trailer).
At the very beginning of the film Detective Craven is reunited with his only daughter after what seems like a separation that’s gone too long. After some time together, Craven’s daughter, Emma, starts getting sick. She throws up periodically and gets a nosebleed. The look on her face clearly tells us that this is not just the case of the flu. Tom and Emma make for the hospital, but their trip gets cut short when a masked man, standing on the Craven’s front lawn, yells, “CRAVEN!” and then shoots Emma.
The rest of the film follows two storylines as the Boston Police Department and Tom Craven both work simultaneous investigations as to who killed Emma in an attempt to kill the Craven. As you would expect, Gibson’s character makes considerably more headway than his fellow detectives. As the real story is uncovered, Detective Craven begins to realize that maybe he wasn’t the one being targeted in the attack. Craven’s path leads him down a trail toward hitmen, terrorist accusations, and cover-ups by the United States government (duh duh DUH!).
Even though I enjoyed “Edge of Darkness”, I can see why it got dumped in the January graveyard of mediocre movies. There was nothing that differentiated this film from any other cop drama motivated by revenge. Mel Gibson throws in his trademarked overly dramatic crying scenes and confused looks (see the “FREEDOM!” scene in “Braveheart”). Also, Ray Winstone adds some intrigue as the mysterious and well-connected “clean-up guy”. Other than this, there is nothing of much note in “Edge of Darkness”. If you are looking for a somewhat entertaining crime drama, I’d recommend this movie, especially given all the garbage in the theaters right now.
wow, that’s some seriously mediocre praise! LOL “if you must go to the movies, this is your best bet right now….” eh, think I’ll save this one for the rental!
Matt (my husband) said it looked pretty good. He said that it looks like Mel Gibson is ‘channeling his anger’ in this movie, which made me laugh…. I guess it’s better than channeling it in alcohol and anti-jewish rants…. 🙂
Mediocre praise for a mediocre movie. It IS in the January graveyard after all.
considering how Jan/Feb are the longest, most depressing months of the year, it’s really sad that the box office dumps their crap movies in those months. It makes the months even more depressing! sigh. Hollywood: Give us something to look forward too!
I know, I know, they do it because of Oscar nominations and all that, but really, a great movie is a great movie—released in January or in December. If it’s worth being nominated for, time shouldn’t change that! Take Avatar for instance. A good movie. Really, it is. But if it had been released in January, would it be on the top ten list? Or would the ‘hype’ had been over and people realize that what they mistake for greatness was just dazzling special effects? hmmmm…..