Edge of Darkness

As David St. Hubbins might say, “It’s such a fine line, between stupid and clever.” Edge of Darkness begins with clever, and slowly works its way to stupid. After a seven-year hiatus from acting, Mel Gibson returns to the screen as Tom Craven, a homicide detective believed to be the target of a shooting that goes awry, resulting in the death of his daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic). Based on a 1985 BBC television mini-series, the story works from a tired, conspiratorial premise but edges toward intrigue as the plot unfolds. Craven’s daughter (this is not a spoiler) is the actual target. She’s been working on a classified project, the nature of which dictates the motive for her murder.

The film begins with a lakeside shot of Northmoor headquarters—Emma’s employer and a government contractor. Three bodies surface, face down, in the river. In an odd contrast to the rest of the cinematography, the shot is saturated with blues and greys—appearing either color-graded or partly computer-generated. It seemed amusing to me, at first, because it was preceded by several minutes of studio logos without a clear transition. So the ebb and flow of the water and the moonlit setting suggested another damned logo. Some in the audience chuckled as the bodies popped up, one by one. A bizarrely-executed opening, it skews the viewer’s expectations—perhaps in a good way, as this film can’t be taken too seriously.

Craven is played as the typical stoic, meat and potatoes Boston cop, set in his ways and stubborn to no end. When Detective Whitehouse (Jay O. Sanders) appears to console him, surrounded by colleagues investigating and providing support, Craven seems nearly catatonic—speechless. No relationship has been set up between Whitehouse and Craven prior to this, but the dialogue quickly establishes them as the closest of friends. As the person who gives Craven the rudimentary “anything you need” speech, how much do you want to bet Whitehouse’s loyalty comes into question later?

An interesting combination of fact and faith comes into view as the methodical investigator periodically sees or hears his daughter—not as a ghost, but rather a lingering memory. Having difficulty sleeping, waking to gunshots from his nightmares, his grief is almost paralyzing. In one scene he briefly imagines a young Emma pretending along as he shaves his face, only to return to the reality of his utter loneliness. In another, he doesn’t immediately think to check who the caller on Emma’s phone is. At first it seems like a lapse in writing, but Craven is still visibly shaken and later, after regaining his composure, begins tracking down leads from Emma’s phone contacts.

The successive build-up of clues, suspenseful as it may be, feels like a single corridor of reasoning written to unfold a specific way rather than branches of possibility being ruled out through exhaustive analysis, i.e. the way investigations normally play out. Unseen forces are at work, meeting in comically-mysterious places, including the standard underground parking garage complete with steam-sweating pipes. Among them is Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), hired to provide interference between investigators, Northmoor and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. government. For obvious reasons, Northmoor CEO Jack Bennett (Danny Huston) seems to be a focal point of inquiry. For those of you familiar with Roger Ebert’s Law of Economy of Characters, you already know why Mr. Huston was cast and what role he plays in this clandestine plot. There’s no other part he could possibly play.

The film is interesting in its first half when it builds mystery, yet doesn’t take itself too seriously. Cartoonish cover-up stories never work when they’re played totally straight. Enter Emma’s boyfriend and co-worker, Burnham (Shawn Roberts, the jarhead caricature from I Love You, Beth Cooper). Craven pays him a visit when a handgun turns out to be registered to the young man. Mr. Roberts plays the paranoid Burnham right to the edge of hilarity with his beady-eyed, mouth-breathing abruptness.

In another scene, Jedburgh appears out of nowhere in Craven’s backyard. While Craven tosses some of Emma’s belongings in a fire, a neighbor yells, “What the fuck are you burning back there?” A few laughs break up the tension and desensitize the audience in between gruesome exposures. The killings in this film are unusually graphic and bloody, more than justifying the R rating.

Mr. Winstone adds a nice touch, playing Jedburgh as morally neutral at first, but becoming gradually attuned to the loathesome marriage between corporate and Congressional interests that lurks behind the principal mystery. A scene at his physician’s office is an odd digression from the plot-driven narrative, yet it reveals a character flaw, albeit predictably, which humanizes Jedburgh.

More histrionic than human is Bennett and his megalomaniac personality. Armed and with an unmarked squad car, Craven stops him but doesn’t kill him. In a film like this do you think Bennett stands a chance of surviving? Instead, Craven bides his time. Who is he? The Count of Monte Cristo? Why wait? This clearly has descended into a dumb revenge flick when you realize that Craven has gone vigilante, defying process and procedure in favor of systematically hunting down, judging and punishing those responsible. Instead, we must sit through inexorable hokum and titillating violence as every single character you think is just about to die does, right up until the infuriating end.

Here’s a question: Why poison someone if you’re just going to shoot them, anyway, five seconds later?

Edge of Darkness • Dolby® Digital surround sound in select theatres • Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 • Running Time: 117 minutes • MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence and language. • Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures