Mel Gibson Is a Man on a Mission in 'Edge of Darkness'

Mel Gibson is back and possibly better than ever in his new flick Edge of Darkness. I got to check out a screening of the film and I LOVED it. Just like The Book of Eli it wasn't a film that screamed out to me to be seen, but I'm so happy I got to watch it.

Gibson stars as Boston Detective Thomas Craven, an older, single dad who gets a visit from his 24-year-old daughter Emma (played by Bojana Novakovic) after some time of separation. Emma is gunned down in front of the Craven home in a brutal attack. News outlets and the police assume that Detective Craven was the intended target, but new pieces to an elaborate conspiracy against Craven's daughter keep bubbling to the surface. Craven's sole purpose becomes to find out what was going on with his daughter's secret life and why so many people were trying to cover it up.

The flick had action, thrills and even bits of laughter. Mel Gibson is the man -- THE MAN -- In this movie. His character is a man possessed and will not stop until he gets to the bottom of things. There were moments of white-knuckle suspense and times where the entire theater, including me, burst out into cheers. "Go, Mel, Go!" could be the subtext of the film. I can't say enough about Gibson's performance. He was just awesome.

The real star of the film, though, would have to be Gibson's face. Yes, his face. It was weathered and stoic like a big old tree trunk. His forehead had three deep, deep lines across them. Dissecting those lines were two diagonal wrinkles coming inward from his temples. Connect those lines with the deep lines around his mouth and they formed a weathered X across his face. Gibson's eyes were dead throughout the movie. No emotion, no feelings, no soul. Dead eyes. Whether he was saying things that were vengeful and demented, or cracking a dark-humored joke or two his eyes never flickered nor shined. He was a man on the edge of darkness with nothing to lose. Awesome.

Check out the trailer for Edge of Darkness: