Edge of Darkness

Mel Gibson ends his 8 year hiatus from the big screen with “Edge of Darkness”, a power packed, and somewhat odd, revenge thriller. Mel plays a Boston (which is becoming almost a cliché backdrop for modern cop movies) police detective whose daughter is murdered and he goes almost immediately into “I will stop at nothing to find my daughter‘s killers.” mode, and does his best Terminator impersonation in his quest to find the who and why. With the help of Ray Winstone, as a cooler-than-ice freelance counter-terrorism, ahem, “consultant“, he finds all of those responsible. And by “all of those responsible” I mean all. of. them. Literally. And, to them, they are not nice. Not since The Departed has a cop movie so thoroughly cleaned up its messes. The villains are sketched with a weird, tender finesse and as diabolical containers of absolute evil. In the end, the movie is a bit juvenile in it’s handing out of black and white hats, but I’ll take it.

While it starts out as a fairly standard cop-going-off-the-reservation revenge thriller, the story meanders into interesting places. I much appreciate the effort here to think a little and put a creative spin on the plot, when more often than not in this genre, the plotting feels neglected in favor of performances, directing, etc. And probably the best part are the thrills. There are more leap-out-of-your seat moments than, I imagine, any given horror movie currently at the cineplex.

Mel’s quirky, uncoiling-ferocity acting style has a tendency to feel like a constant overreaction to whatever is taking place around him, and become its own entity separate from the movie…like “Hey, look how mad I can get?” or “Look how sad I can be!” He restrains just enough here, and his style is almost perfectly in tune with the intensity level of the overall tone. The big guy has aged quickly since we last saw him in 2002‘s “Signs“, but a 4-year Colonial-Kurtz-style excursion as a bearded weirdo in the jungles of Mexico will do that.

Bottom line: This is a fun, highly entertaining and somewhat affecting flick.

See it: Worthy of a theatre viewing

4/5 stars

And the award goes to...

More nominees, more hosts, more schmaltz!

In 2010, we will see the first major change in the Academy Awards structure in… who knows how long… since the ‘30s? (Well… they did add a Best Animated Feature category in 1999, which was a rather major addition) The Best Picture category has been expanded to 10 nominees. While that allows the Academy to acknowledge 5 more movies than usual, it does nothing to change the race, as the 5 added have no chance of winning anyway (Up, A Serious Man, District 9, Precious, The Blind Side). It will be very interesting to see if Avatar wins Best Pic. Avatar's story is universally denounced as hot stinky garbage, and it would be awarded strictly for its ambitious technical scope and visuals. But there is already a category for that. It would be a shame and a new low for the Academy to award Avatar Best Pic, especially when a movie with actual, excellent writing and real and brave performances, like “An Education” or “The Hurt Locker” is sitting right there on the bench! But Cameron and his Universal Over-Ego won’t let that happen. He’s saved all of the costumes from his previous movies in a giant warehouse and, as I type this, he is suiting up a cattle-call of out of work actors to take to the streets of LaLaLand and systematically scare and intimidate voters. Be wary, voters, if Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio knocks on your door during dinner hour. Don’t let her in, because you never know who’s in there.

Despite the battle brewing for Best Picture, my gaze is fixed squarely on the Best Actor category. Jeff Bridges is as royal as Hollywood Royalty comes. He has the respect, the epitome, the family pedigree, he’s had lead turns in a slew of indies as well as blockbusters, including arguably one of the biggest cult classics of all time (resulting in elite cache with the entirety of Gen X and Y males). He’s been the President, an alien, a psychiatrist, a mad genius villian, a twisted psychopath … he even has the side music career, the rare one which foments curiosity rather than the expected groans and snickering (see: Dog Star). But, not as of yet, the awards. In “Crazy Heart”, he gives an incredibly consuming, unique, thoughtful and downright badass performance. I see this performance and think “My God, is there anything this man can‘t do???” It’s time to step up, Academy voters, and bestow upon “The Dude” the statue he so keenly deserves! And voters: if you are still suffering the after effects of the home breach perpetrated by Lord Cameron and his legion of costumed minions, fear not, as you can quietly help the Academy recover some face here by voting for Mr. Bridges.

I’m out, people… and wait… is that… I think I see Robert Patrick sprinting down the middle of Wilshire Boulevard!

2010 Oscar Predictions

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique