MOVIE OF THE WEEK (1/29/10): EDGE OF DARKNESS
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic and Shawn Roberts
WRITER: William Monahan and Andrew Bovell; the screenplay based on the original BBC television series written by Troy Kennedy Martin.
DIRECTOR: Martin Campbell
WEB SITE: http://edge-of-darkness.warnerbros.com/
THE PLOT: Inspired by the BAFTA Award-winning 1980s BBC series of the same name, Edge of Darkness centers around Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson), a Boston Police detective who is also the single parent of Emma (Bojana Novakovic), a 24 year-old with a job at Northmoor, a very high-powered (and hush hush) nuclear research facility run by Jack Bennett (Danny Huston). His world is shattered when a hitman shows up at his home, blasting Emma with a fatal shot that everyone assumes was intended for him.
Thomas, however, suspects otherwise ... A belief that is further confirmed once the mysterious Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) makes his presence on the scene. And as Thomas begins to unravel the mystery, the journey into finding out the truth takes him to (insert movie title).
THE TAKE: Having never seen the original BBC mini-series - which eventually earned its way into the 15th slot on the British Film Institute’s Top
100 Television list - I cannot compare the American version of Darkness to the predecessor. That notwithstanding, I am fairly confident the British mini-series, much like NBC's version of The Office and its ill-fated attempt at coverting Coupling for American audiences, is superior to Darkness.
It's not all Mel Gibson's fault, really. Despite a few scenes where he takes his character to the edge of believability with the requisite badass one-liners, Gibson is for the most part solid in playing a man driven to find out the truth as he learns about the daughter he did not know as well as he thought ... That's not to excuse Gibson, though, for the times when he seems a bit "off" at times when called upon to exhibit emotion (which given his past work and recent legal troubles seems a bit preposterous).
No, the things that keep Darkness from being a truly great film might be Winstone's heavy-handed portrayal as Jedburgh, who remains calm at all times, saying all the smooth, I'm-in-control dialogue a bit too much, the lack of inherent danger you feel for Craven (who should not be able to do what he does as easily as it seems at any point in the story) and the absence of a strong, concise villian.
Sure, you get that Bennett is evil and that Craven really misses his daughter, but you never feel compelled to care beyond more than basic empathy - and that's not what the screenwriters nor director Martin Campbell intended (I'm fairly certain of this). In short, the film has a bit of a paint-by-numbers feel that if it didn't have Gibson as its star would be out of theaters faster than you could say Avatar. There is drama for Craven, certainly, but for the audience? Not so much.
And that is the main factor that prevents Edge of Darkness from keeping you on the edge of your seat.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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