Year: 2016
Director: Jean-François Richet
Though Mad Mel Gibson’s forthcoming ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ heralds a return to the kind of directorial event film-making for which he’s famed, he’s been prepping the ground with a series of smaller, mea culpa acting turns, ‘The Beaver’, ‘Get The Gringo’ and now this.
Ergo, ‘Blood Father’ opens with Med Mel – I mean, his character, John Link – confessing all at an AA meeting. He’s done bad stuff. He’s sorry. He wants to begin again. Whether or not you forgive him is irrelevant. The question is whether you want to watch him, and the fact remains that from ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Apocalypto’, whether in front of the camera or behind it, Gibbo’s always turned out fascinating work. Not necessarily good work, mind you, but always with a welcome dollop of ‘what the fuck?’
Here he seems to be channelling his most commercial character, Riggs of ‘Lethal Weapon’. In fact, if you can imagine that Riggs has retired, grown an awesome beard and now works out of a caravan as a tattoo artist, only to be dragged into a violent feud involving his daughter, you’ve got the measure of ‘Blood Father’, both in terms of plot and its mix of gunplay and humour.
That second element isn’t done as deftly as it could be, and ‘Blood Father’ is tonally awkward. It’s also let down by an under-written, badly performed foil in Erin Moriarty as the wayward daughter in question. On the plus side, it benefits from a wry, hard-boiled tone, one or two bravura action set-pieces and of course a craggy, self-aware central performance, which has got to be at least 50 per cent of the reason you’re tuning in in the first place.
Gibbo’s back behind the camera for ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ but in the meantime ‘Blood Father’ is a fine reminder of his singular, maverick presence.
Might appeal to people who enjoyed:
Mel Gibson
Junior Wells says
is it funny , reflective or action ?
Leicester Bangs says
This is where the tonally awkward bit comes in. I suppose it’s about as action-packed as you’d expect given the premise, with slightly-lower-than-Lethal Weapon levels of humour, and the beard ensuring it’s just about reflective enough. Like I say, there are some good set-pieces.
Leicester Bangs says
Bingo Little says
Genuinely torn on this movie.
On the one hand, Mel Gibson is a genuinely brilliant director when the mood takes him (Apocalypto is one of the most savagely memorable films of the last decade), and that trailer is properly ace.
On the other, the cast is absolutely fecking awful. I really struggle to believe that any film can be truly great when it contains any of Hugo Weaving, Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn and Sam Worthington, let alone all of them. I’m also not sure if the central performance might be swerving a little too far in the direction of outright Gumpism.
All of that said, early word of mouth is sensational, so I’m quite happy to put aside my misgivings and count the days…..
Gary says
The guy’s life story is interesting. Not that dissimilar to my own apart from the war and the saving lives and the getting a medal bits. We both decline to carry a gun. (Him because of his religious convictions, me because I can’t afford one).
Leicester Bangs says
My prediction is that the Garfield-cringe evident in the trailer will be outweighed by superbly staged visceral battle scenes and the kind of stirring, emotionally involving action we haven’t seen since ‘Last Of The Mohicans’.
Agreed on ‘Apocalypto’. There’s little to touch it in terms of pure, sustained excitement (‘Black Hawk Down’? ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’?) and I think it would be even better regarded if Gibbo hadn’t been on such a self-destructive streak at the time. He’s got a real talent for old skool action, and I’m overjoyed that he’s back, back, back.