As a Thriller “Edge of Darkness” Fails to Pick up Steam

The primary reason I was anxious to see Mel Gibson’s “Edge of Darkness,”  is that Gibson plays a Boston cop.  Films that involve Boston attract my interest because I call the area home, and  I firmly believe in the positive exposure the city has received recently in the entertainment industry.  I think that this exposure has helped to show America that New York and Los Angeles aren’t the only places exciting events take place.

Since I knew “Edge of Darkness” is a thriller, I had expectations that Gibson’s return to acting would present viewers with a fast-paced action film that kept us glued to the screen as we unraveled the clues to solving the mystery.  As a thriller though, it fails to pick up steam; the pacing for most of the movie, is slow and the conspiracy it reveals is murky at best in its explanation.

Mel Gibson portrays a seasoned homicide detective in the Boston police, named Thomas Craven, whose daughter returns home for a visit.  It’s already clear from the beginning that his daughter Emma, keeps her personal and professional life hidden from her father, but the degree with which she does is initially unclear.  When Emma falls mysteriously ill, she attempts to explain the situation to her father, however masked men gun her down before she tells him.

Most of the Boston police force is under the impression that the masked gunmen are enemies from Craven’s past striking back at him, even though Craven soon doubts that assumption. Craven appoints himself lead investigator on the case, despite noted protest from his superiors, and launches his own examination of the evidence.  Once Craven starts digging around Emma’s personal life and her employment with a private firm called NorthMoor contracted by the government for nuclear test research, he finds that his inquiries are quite unwelcome.

A government hired cleanup artist Jedburgh played by Ray Winstone, warns Craven in his cool Cockney accent to keep his nose clean and not to meddle in NorthMoor’s affairs.  Craven continues in his quest unabashed though.  Craven starts unraveling threads to a conspiracy involving big business and government in Massachusetts, as he starts to dig deeper into his daughter’s untimely demise.

While this sounds like it could be an engrossing plot, in execution the film falls flat in creating the necessary tension between opposing forces.  The slow pace and the failure to properly flesh out the motivations of the connected parties in the conspiracy are a detriment to the excitement.   Winstone’s character is especially confusing because his motives in helping or hindering Craven are probably the least transparent.

My favorite aspect of “Edge of Darkness” is actually Gibson himself.  For the first time in a long time I actually felt like I watched him play a character instead of playing Mel Gibson in a different setting.  He gives Craven, an everyman quality, and his Boston accent is actually pretty good.  Gibson portrays Craven, as a sentimental man whose love for his daughter and willingness to avenge her death knows no bounds.

Gibson’s typical theme of seeking brutal revenge against those that have wronged his characters on-screen always creates a certain level of violent entertainment, as it does for “Edge of Darkness,” but there’s only so far it can compensate for the film’s weakly assembled story.  One final annoyance I have is that the end of “Edge of Darkness,” displays the obvious influence of “The Departed” screenwriter William Monahan, in a way that reminds you too much of the previous Boston-based film.

My grade: B-