Blood Father

Blood Father is a pleasantly straightforward revenge thriller. It will serve the purpose for a Saturday evening on basic cable, but for fans of B-movies that don’t deal in a large amount of profanity and a high body count, it probably won’t offer the same satisfaction as movies that are even more uncompromising and lay claim to the trash tradition with greater pride (such as Gibson’s Payback). Richet manages to limit the theatrical dimension of the father and daughter reuniting and bonding by treating the central duo’s relationship a bit like a buddy movie, but despite all the cynicism and dark humour (see the opening joke about buying bullets, which of course fundamentally conflicts with how uncomplicatedly guns are dealt with in the rest of the film), it is still apparent that family and forgiveness comprise the theme of the film. Due to the short runtime, there is fortunately not much time for didactic dialogue and, furthermore, Gibson’s father character brushes off most of his daughter’s sins with the word “fuck” delivered with various intonations. Richet knows when to crank up the narrative with an action scene and, despite the predictability of the plot, he manages to surprise us a few times with an unexpected cut (to what is happening in the film projected in the cinema) and the agitation with which casual conversations are shot and edited (so that we are constantly aware that the characters are under time pressure). ___ If some roles are said to have been written directly on the actor’s body, in this case that is undoubtedly true (although the film is based on a book) and I find the autobiographical aspect to be the most inspiring part of the whole film. Gibson plays a recovering alcoholic, a former member of a biker gang who has had so much trouble with the law that he risks violating parole with even the slightest offense and going back to prison. He hides out in a western no-man’s land near the Mexican border, staying away from a society in which he has lost faith. Only his daughter in distress compels him to dust off his soldier mentality and lethal skills, which in the end are not something he should be ashamed of, but a useful insurance policy in case of emergency and a reminder of a time when he actually lived (not just survived). You never know when a group of angry Mexicans (it must be said that, to the film’s credit, neo-Nazis are also a threat here) will come to shoot up your camping trailer and you will have to take justice into your own hands. Your problematic past will come in handy in such a situation. As long as you help your family, it doesn’t matter how much damage you do or how many bodies you leave behind. In other words, if – like Mel –you were once a bad guy, that doesn't mean that you should suffer for the rest of your life because of it. It’s unlikely that Blood Father will be the film that saves Gibson’s career, but it offers a lot more (guilty) fun than other projects that are basically just psychotherapy for the actor or filmmaker. 65% (18/09/2016) (less) (more)