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February 4, 2010

Benji Tunnell: 'Darkness' not very edgy

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Thu Feb 04, 2010, 08:01 PM CST

An actor dreams of a performance so memorable that it is ingrained upon the collective consciousness of all who witness it.

Perhaps it is a fairly regular occurrence (Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep) or perhaps they get one lucky swipe and knock the ball out of the park (Sandra Bullock, Nicolas Cage). But once the performance starts to overtake the actor, it is hard to reach such levels again.

Such is the difficulty that Mel Gibson faces in his new revenge thriller “Edge of Darkness.” Granted, this is an outing far less drunken and anti-Semitic as his last one, but is it enough to override alcohol fueled rantings that have now come to define the man?

Not really, but he can still command the screen.

“Darkness” (the unfortunate title makes one think it should be starring Meredith Baxter and be airing on Lifetime) focuses on Thomas Craven (Gibson), a cop and grieving father whose daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down as he stands next to her in what is thought to be a mistaken hit, one intended for Craven himself.

As he begins digging into it, however, he finds that not all is as it seems with Northmoor, the company that Emma worked for. As he continues his investigation, the body count rises as he finds threads tying a corrupt government agency to the shady corporation that may have been responsible for his daughter’s death.

This is territory that Gibson has covered before, and far more effectively in “Lethal Weapon” and “Ransom.” Yet watching him begin to unravel the dense, sometimes convoluted conspiracy becomes pretty engrossing. It’s when it shifts from being an investigation to a bloody and slightly over the top revenge tale that it loses focus.

Even after the character damage inflicted upon himself, Gibson continues to show gravity on the screen. While I thought his grief over losing his daughter was a little too understated, no one does controlled anger as well as he does.

Better still, though in a smaller role, is Ray Winstone as Jedburgh, a mysterious character who may or may not be trying to help Craven. He is a morally ambiguous man, and Winstone captures his essence without giving away what drives him. I would have been more interested in watching the Jedburgh story for two hours.

There are some good action set pieces mixed in, and the performances are solid throughout, but it is a tried and true idea that doesn’t really unearth any new ideas.

“Darkness” is an average revenge thriller with a few exceptional points, but it leaves a feeling of deja vu when the credits roll. However, Gibson does manage some career damage control with a return to what he knows he can do best. Short of another “Lethal Weapon” or “Mad Max,” there probably wasn’t a better choice than this for Gibson to dip his toe back in the water.

This may not be the film that wipes those slurred tirades out of our memories, but it does show that Gibson can still carry a film and be taken seriously as an actor.

But if not, at least he has his hobbies to fall back on. After all, we need someone to carry the burden of impregnating Russian pop stars and generating all of those cute nicknames for our men and women in blue.



Rating: Two reels

Address correspondence to Benji Tunnell, c/o The Joplin Globe,

P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802 or benjitunnell@gmail.com.

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