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Edge of Darkness (2010)

Time Out rating

Average user rating

10 reviews

Synopsis

This retooling of the popular TV series stars Mel Gibson and Ray Winston and follows one man's journey through corruption and cover-up to locate his daughters’ killers. Directed by Martin Campbell ('Casino Royale').

Movie review

From Time Out London

We may have moved from veiled Cold War to explicit global terror in the 25 years since the excellent, UK-set nuclear conspiracy thriller ‘Edge of Darkness’ first aired on the BBC, directed by Martin Campbell (‘Casino Royale’) and written by Troy Kennedy Martin. It’s also been some eight, traumatic post-9/11 years since Mel Gibson’s last thespian outing in M Night Shyamalan’s ‘Signs’. But time seems to have stood still in Campbell’s drab remake for the big screen. With its nuclear concerns and old-fashioned heroics, it feels like a period piece.

In condensing the original mini-series into a conventional, two-hour package, scriptwriters William Monahan and Andrew Bovell have sadly sacrificed some of the original’s cultural specificity and its slow-burn quality. Moreover, in relocating from northern England to the US’s Eastern Seaboard, they have jettisoned much of the chilling atmospherics. Craven, the widowed police officer whose engineer daughter (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down on a home visit, is now one of Boston PD’s finest; and if it’s true that Gibson, in the role, recalls the earnest intensity and investigative zeal of Bob Peck’s original performance, he also brings a lot of unwanted ‘Lethal Weapon’-era manic mannerisms to the part.

It’s basically a ‘little guy against the system’ movie, literally so in many of Campbell’s framings – for instance, where he miniaturises Gibson’s now slightly wizened figure against the looming bulk of Danny Huston’s smarmy corporate bad guy. However, Ray Winstone, as a boozy high-level fixer in pointed contrast to Craven’s ginger-ale-drinking sobriety, does offer good value in what is otherwise a surprisingly low-wattage and anonymously directed thriller.

Author: Wally Hammond

Time Out London Issue 2058: 28 January – 3 February, 2010

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User reviews of this film

Diablo said...

Posted on Aug 21 2010 21:58 Why is the TO reviewer so down on this movie . Not a classic but at least a 3 star

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richard said...

Posted on Mar 14 2010 12:12 I went to see the film with low expectations of some gratuitous violence, but it had a bit more depth than the review suggests. The camera work, script and acting were good. Some cheesy hollywood scenes, but overall a 3 or 4!

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paula turner said...

Posted on Feb 15 2010 11:00 I founf it tok a while to get into, once i did it was enjoyable. A couple of times i did jump as i wasnt expecting what happened. Excellant acting by Mel and Ray .

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ARCHGATE said...

Posted on Feb 04 2010 21:26 3 Crackerjack set peices in this film.
Gibson's brooding menace is always good viewing.
Ray Winstone's cool cigar smoking presence is welcome.
Not bad for a rainy day or getting away from it all for a couple of hours.

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Feb 02 2010 15:41 DEAR wally ,
please explain did you miss the pervasively SUBTLE atmosphere -did you not see winstone and gibson giving great performances or were you reviewing gibsons political guffaws -
did u note the fact that this movie has actually got better character development than hurt locker and up in the air put together -and an extremely sophisticated script and to top it the boston accents were much better than the acclaimed -DEPARTED -PLEASE DO REPLY

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Dude said...

Posted on Feb 02 2010 13:01 Great film!

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Feb 02 2010 01:14 ignore the TO REVIEW -it is a very interesting and humane thriller both provocative and humane and mel gibson is in true form with the sordid american political milieu as the relevant theme -i enjoyed the acting -plot and dialogues and a great ending

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Tricky said...

Posted on Jan 29 2010 19:52 Best film out at the moment by a country mile ! 5 stars

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cristopher said...

Posted on Jan 27 2010 23:50 good film always is with mel gibson in, wel worth watchin

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ARCHGATE said...

Posted on Jan 26 2010 15:54 anonymously directed thriller.
Oh, Wally!

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