Review of Edge of Darkness (2010) by Chads. — 30 Jan 2010

Got masochism? This film has got Mel Gibson, so the question is largely a rhetorical one. But just for the record, of course, "The Edge of Darkness" has got it. Prostrated again, the torture that greets Thomas Craven can't compete with the crucifixtion rehearsal in "Braveheart", or the damage to the toe that a sledgehammer can cause in Brian Helgeland's "Payback", but being handcuffed to a metal stretcher while suffering, both from acute radiation poisoning, and the memory of his daughter being gunned down in cold blood, is more than a little torturous; is no picnic, and is quintessential Mel, who specializes in self-righteous rampages following in the wake of his own victimization.

Emma(Bojana Novakovic), cut down in a drive-by shooting, never gets the chance to die slowly from radiation poisoning. Nobody shares the torture spotlight with this controversial actor(a good one)/filmmaker(a great one); he's no Jane Alexander.

His character's testament to Emma, a show of vengeance against her killers, seems more like an act of self-love than parental love, since the moviegoer has seen this song and dance before. The daughter's bloodied body serves as a platform, an excuse, in which Thomas can play vigilante with the full endorsement of the moviegoer.

Rendered in grisly detail(there's also a violently horrific car on pedestrian incident involving a female victim), all that spilled blood and exposed guts demands that the wronged police detective serve such obvious monsters their comeuppance.

"The Edge of Darkness" makes judicious use of the flashback(the filmmaker is complicit), in which Thomas' memories of Emma are limited to her childhood, the period when his grown daughter needed daddy's protection.

As the moviegoer finally gets a fleeting glimpse of her real life(on video), we're shocked, because Emma is not the same woman we met before the fatal shooting. The button-down, middle class she projects is for daddy's eyes only.

That's because the father never truly respected the woman that Emma had become, so in effect, his vigilantism has an overbearing aspect which reeks of condescension.