Directed by Jean-François Richet
Written by Peter Craig (screenplay and based upon his novel) and Andrea Berloff (screenplay)
Cast: Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks, William H. Macy, Miguel Sandoval, Dale Dickey, Richard Cabral, Daniel Moncada, Raoul Max Trujillo, Thomas Mann
Soundtrack: Sven Faulconer
Maybe I’m a fool for feeling this way, but I actually feel bad for Mel Gibson.
Sure, he’s been caught doing some very bad things, and may very well be actively insane, but how many people can we say that about who still get plenty of run in Hollywood? My guess is a lot.
Have you seen the poster or trailer for ‘Hacksaw Ridge’? Looks amazing, no?
Notice anything about it from a marketing perspective? It says, “From the Academy Award winning director of ‘Braveheart'”. Know who that is?
It’s Mel Gibson.
So, what appears to be the case here is that Mel Gibson’s work is still good enough to be used as a selling point, as long as you don’t actually mention his name. Fair, perhaps, but they had no problem slapping Roman Polanski’s name on the trailer for ‘The Pianist’, so, maybe it all depends on what you did and how long ago it was.
All of this is to say that Mel Gibson is the best thing about ‘Blood Father’.
He hasn’t had a real signature role since ‘Signs’ in 2002. Many hoped that ‘Edge of Darkness’ would be something of a return to form in 2010, but it ended up falling rather flat (not to mention the film’s a poor substitute for what is an all-time great BBC miniseries). ‘Blood Father’ won’t earn him any nominations either, but it is an effective reminder that Gibson still has plenty in the tank, even as a sexagenarian. There simply aren’t many film actors working today who can pull off the range of emotion from fatherly concern to blind rage like he can.
Anyway, enough about Mel. Where ‘Blood Father’ fails is that you’re never really sure what the movie is. Is it meant to be taken seriously? Is it a cartoon? At various points you’re inclined to have all sorts of different impressions, and then double the problem when individual performers appear to be acting in different movies themselves (either through their own machinations or because they were directed that way; I don’t know what happened). Frankly, some of the tonal shifts are enough to hurt your brain.
Arguably worse than that, however, is the shear waste of good talent. Besides Mel Gibson, you’ve got William H. Macy, Miguel Sandoval (who looks so awesome with a shaved head and all tatted up), and, one of my favorite character actors of ever, Michael Parks. You’d think a movie about a recovering alcoholic dad trying to protect his estranged daughter from some dangerous Mexicans would be a good use of these guys’ time, but, I don’t know; somehow, something was lost from script to screen, at least that’s my best guess.
I didn’t hate ‘Blood Father’, I’m not suggesting you avoid it like the plague, I was just disappointed it didn’t rise above the level of an average Redbox movie, because it easily should have.
Rating: ★★½