Edge of Darkness
Directed by Martin Campbell
Starring Mel Gibson
Recently, movie-goers have been treated or tortured with attempted revivals by actors considered by many to be staples of the past with little room for them in the present. Sylvester Stallone went against the odds and made two entertaining, spirited, and faithful entries into his most recognizable franchises (Rambo, Rocky Balboa). With less success critically, but yielding box office gold, Harrison Ford did the same with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Nuclear-Proof Fridge. Clint Eastwood never stopped starring in critically well received movies, but his reported last bow in front of the camera was Grand Torino which was preceded by Million Dollar Baby; both films were critically well received and show Eastwood still potent as an actor.
Edge of Darkness marks the return of Mel Gibson to the center of the lens for the first time in a starring role since Signs in 2002. This movie that Gibson chose as his comeback role often walks the line of 1990s filmmaking and a more modern update. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for it allows Gibson to assume a pseudo-role of which the audience is familiar.
Gibson stars as Detective Thomas Craven, just another Boston cop but without a consistent Bastan accent. The movie opens with Craven meeting his daughters train. The two meet up and return to Craven’s home where ultimately they are surprised by a masked gunman who shoots down Craven’s daughter.
Anyone familiar with Mel Gibson in this type of movie knows what to expect next. Except that’s not what happens. Not completely. This is an older Gibson with wispy-thin hair and a soft paunch around his waist. Instead of going Sgt. Martin Riggs on the bad guy’s ass, Craven dials in Jake Gittes in a role that ends up being more of a neo-noir turn than that of an action star. Craven is crazed and obsessed as can be expected after the violent death of his daughter, but his mission takes on the pace of a methodical gumshoe who is not afraid to break a face or two in search of answers. Those answers lead Craven on a topical climb onto a stage that is much higher than where he is used to playing; where he can’t be sure who to trust and where his most dire enemy might be his best ally.
Gibson is supported well, but in a wildly obscure role, by the always excellent Ray Winstone. Additionally, a subtle cast of suitably slimy corrupt politician-types help push the evil factor of the bad guys up to near something Sgt. Riggs himself would try to take down.
It takes a while, but once Craven picks the right thread, the mystery begins to unravel fairly quickly. By that time the only question is how the who thing will play out. The finale, though, is really the weakest element of the film. It ends with a mostly satisfying set of events, but it is the mystery – the gumshoe aspect – of Edge of Darkness that provides the most entertainment.
Gibson plays the role of a more refined and restrained hero pretty well. He is still able to manifest his trademark intensity which helps sell the role of grieving father, but also is able convey the disproportionate amount of rage against realistic action that can be taken. That intensity building and demanding to be brought forth gives Gibson’s portrayal of Craven an added level depth and interest.
Edge of Darkness is shot in a somewhat odd style with questionable sound mixing choices. In an early scene with Gibson and his daughter (Bojana Novakovic ) talking while Gibson is driving, the scene is shot from outside the car with rainfall obscuring the view of the two actors as well as the ambient noise of the rain drowning out portions of the conversation. This decision in early scenes worked only to confuse the relationship between the daughter and father. During the course of Craven’s investigation one could surmise both that he and his daughter were estranged, and that they were very close. A more intimate technique during those few scenes the two had together would have helped the audience make a connection.
A similar technique was used several times during the film where a conversation would be partially lost in ambient sound or because the actors were sub-vocalizing their lines. The intended effect of this style was perhaps to manufacture a level of voyeurism as pertaining to the audience’s perception. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect as it made me lose interest in a conversation I could not hear.
The sum of the parts from Edge of Darkness is consistent with the final product. The story is interesting as a modern update of a Chinatown type plot; Gibson is part avenging angel, as we have seen from him many times before, and part investigating detective who needs to do actual work to connect the scattered dots of the mystery. However that is all Edge of Darkness is – a neo-noir drama that goes from point A to B without so much as raising the viewers heart rate. It works as a mostly entertaining and mostly well done film, but none of the story nor the style nor the substance stand out to raise it above reasonably well crafted studio filler.
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