Review of Blood Father (2016) by Carlos G — 27 Aug 2016

Whoever made this film got more bang for their buck hiring Mel Gibson and Michael Parks. Both men are better than this script deserves.

The only reason to watch this film is that Mel Gibson brings his A-game. Again, he plays a man fallen on hard times, a recovering addict, a casual racist, suffers anger issues, has driven his family away. Basically if you can't separate the man from the roles he plays, this should be an easy fit for you. But he's good. He sells it. He has a charisma and intensity that has been attracting audiences for years.

The trouble then falls that the script itself is not very impressive. There's a couple interesting elements (Michael Parks, Sicario Terminator character), but never fully utilizes either to make the film stand out.

Sadly, the actress playing Mel's daughter, and is the center of the film, is not the best actress. She's serviceable. But so many times during the film her delivery of lines took me out of the film. It's not that she was a bad fit for the role, it's that she's not a natural to it and could've used a bit more coaching to really sell it instead of selling a performance.

Overall, not a bad movie and definitely worth watching for any Gibson fan, but I can't really recommend it to anyone else.