Blood Father (MA15+)
Starring: Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty
IT’S been touted as the big comeback film for Mad Mel – but it’s not all that.
That said, Blood Father is an above average daddy revenge flick with plenty of redeeming features.
Mel plays a loner ex-con offering tattoos on the edge of a dusthole of an American desert town while he recovers from his battles with the bottle.
So far, so true to life.
Then along comes his long-lost daughter – previously mostly seen on milk cartons.
Daddy’s little girl is all growed up – so much so that a bad boyfriend, and the drugs and guns that ensue, have left her on the run and fearing for her life.
Solving this one is gonna require Mad Mel’s kinda crazy – no more, and certainly no less.
Mel tries to avoid using a gun for fear of breaching his parole – but when in Rome …
Just to add to the mix, the heavily bearded Mel is also a former biker, so the reunion with his former heavy mates puts him back on his “hog”.
Bikers and guns go together like bees and honey – so Mel takes up arms again.
Just as well – it would have been a shorter and more boring movie if he didn’t.
The obligatory climactic shootout is quite well done, if nothing much out of the ordinary.
View this one as Mel’s first step on a long, long path of redemption – Hacksaw Ridge will no doubt be the next move in that direction.
– Jason Beck
