"Edge of Darkness" movie review

I love action movies. I also love movies where you have to think about the plot. “Edge of Darkness” combines the two in a thrilling story of conspiracy, lies, and cover-up. Though it’s essentially about the little guy uncovering a larger conspiracy, “Edge of Darkness” is fresh and innovative.

Mel Gibson plays aging Boston police officer Thomas Craven, whose daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic; “Drag Me to Hell”) pays her dad a surprise weekend visit. The family reunion, however, is brought to an early end when a gunman kills Emma outside the family’s home. The Boston police assume it was a criminal seeking revenge on Detective Craven who mistakenly hit Emma; Craven pursues the possibility that his daughter was the real target. Soon he has a whiff of a large conspiracy, but struggles to see through a web of deception, especially after bad-guy Jack Bennett (Danny Huston) hires the mysterious Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) to throw Craven off the scent.

This is a multi-layered story that isn’t overly complicated. It’s easy enough to follow the story despite myriad false flags and much deception. The acting is superb with great dialogue and storytelling. Shawn Roberts isn’t fantastic as Terry Shields, Emma’s boyfriend, but it’s overall a very well-made film. Also off-putting is Mel Gibson’s voice: at some points he speaks so dryly and gruffly that it’s tough to decipher what he’s saying.

I’d say absolutely yes, see this movie. This is easily one of the best conspiracy-action-thriller combinations I’ve seen in a long time, and there are very few flaws. I was never bored, despite the 117-minute running time, and the plot’s neither inaccessible nor predictable.

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