It's hard to believe, but Mel Gibson hasn't starred in a movie since 2003's The Singing Detective, a flick I'll cop to having no recollection of at all. (Robert Downey Jr. co-starred!) It's not that he disappeared: In 2004 Gibson directed The Passion of the Christ, bludgeoning religious moviegoers into grizzly submission at the box office; and in 2006 he made Apocalypto, perhaps running slightly ahead of our current Mayan end-of-the-world craze. 2006 was more notable for Gibson's DUI arrest, during which he made anti-semitic remarks to the arresting officer and claimed to own Malibu. After a 20-plus year ride as a Hollywood golden child, Mel Gibson fell out of view.
But hey, this is America; we're a forgiving bunch, right? Anyone expect Tiger Woods to still be on the shit-list if he resolves things with the wife and starts dominating major golf tournaments again? Doubtful. And while I don't condone what Gibson did (both the DUI and the jackass comments were stupid), the man is still a fine actor. Case in point: Edge of Darkness, a new revenge fantasy/political espionage thriller from director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale). Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a Boston police detective whose daughter is gunned down right in front of him. At first, the cops figure it must have been a blown hit on Detective Craven, but as he starts investigating it becomes clear that the killers got their intended target.
This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2010.