Edge of Darkness

Can Mel Gibson still put bottoms on seats? His last starring role, in 2002’s We Were Soldiers, left a sour taste with anyone who fell politically to the left of Genghis Khan. In the intervening years, his remarkable directorial efforts The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto have been undervalued due to contentious subject matter and the unfortunate antics of their progenitor.

And so, more than three decades into his career, Edge of Darkness is a major test for the star we once adored as Lethal Weapon’s borderline basket case. A film adaptation of a 1985 BBC television series, this political thriller features Mel doing what he does best, namely avenging the death of a loved one with Extreme Prejudice. Playing a Boston detective investigating the murder of his nuclear scientist turned activist daughter (Bojana Novakovic), the controversial actor revisits his greatest hits: rule books are duly torn up in the name of vigilante action, offices are stormed, bad guys are thumped. As the underlying conspiracy deepens, so does our hero’s resolve. Even the CIA op brought in to tidy up the mess (Ray Winstone) has to doff his cap in admiration as Mel thunders at evil multinational wonks, crooked cops and bought politicians.

As an actor’s vehicle, Edge of Darkness works well enough. Mr. Winstone makes for a pleasing spook and Danny Huston channels his father’s chilling turn as Noah Cross with remarkable ease. And who here among us, for any number of reasons, could argue with Mr. Gibson in pistol-whipping form?

Sadly, Martin Campbell’s silver screen treatment of the material isn’t entirely successful in its transfer from the small screen; the paranoid view of nuclear power now seems hopelessly out of date and the slow burn plotting can play more like a disappointed miniseries than a proper film. There are, nonetheless, enough cathartic thrills to suggest that Edge of Darkness might just be this year’s Taken.

Provided, of course, Mel Gibson can still put bottoms on seats.