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Edge of Darkness

EMAILPRINTWarner Bros. Pictures

Edge of Darkness reviews
55
7.1 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 40 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: William Monahan
Andrew Bovell

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 29, 2010

Running Time: 117 minutes, Color

Origin: UK | USA

Summary

RATING: R for strong bloody violence and language

Starring Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic, Frank Grillo, and Gbenga Akinnagbe

Edge of Darkness is an emotionally charged thriller set at the intersection of politics and big business. Thomas Craven is a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Department and a single father. When his only child, twenty-four year-old Emma, is murdered on the steps of his home, everyone assumes that he was the target. But he soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter's secret life and her killing. His investigation leads him into a dangerous, looking glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder – and to shadowy government operative Darius Jedburgh, who has been sent in to clean up the evidence. Craven's solitary search for answers about his daughter's death transforms into an odyssey of emotional discovery and redemption. (Warner Bros.)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

An intense Mel Gibson performance anchors this brutally effective crime thriller.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

His (Gibson) slow-burn fury keeps the movie going, but not enough to invest us in any justice beyond payback.

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75

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Campbell’s film offers not surprises, exactly, but craftsmanship and low, brute, cunning satisfactions.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

I don't see Edge of Darkness as a great movie, or a particularly exalted one, but I do see it as one made by people who know where the buttons are - and who know how to press them. Hard.

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75

USA Today Claudia Puig

Though the experience is nerve-racking and cathartic under Campbell's skilled direction, musings on family and grief and Gibson's intense, but subtle, performance stay with us longest.

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75

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Perhaps the best compliment I can pay to his work in Edge of Darkness is that I wouldn't particularly want to see this movie with grumpy Harrison Ford starring instead. Welcome back, Mel.

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70

New York Magazine David Edelstein

A meathead revenge picture, but it’s very satisfying. Director Martin Campbell, coming off "Casino Royale," has a style that’s blunt and bruising.

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70

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

An efficient, politically inert fantasy.

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70

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Edge of Darkness is somewhat stylish, and it's intelligently made.

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70

Arizona Republic Bill Goodykoontz

Both the film and television project were directed by Martin Campbell. He creates a nice level of tension throughout, and there are a couple of legitimate shocks (including one jaw-dropper).

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70

Village Voice Nick Pinkerton

Onscreen much of the time, thicker and more creased than you remember, Gibson can make this rather unshapely movie seem taut.

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63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Winstone's interaction with Gibson provides the movie with much of its interest. For the rest, it's a skillful exercise in CGI and standard-order thriller supplies.

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63

Boston Globe Sam Allis

The movie’s weaknesses include the overuse of grainy flashbacks of Craven’s daughter as a child, and the conversations he has with her after she is gone. Both are tremendously moving ideas but eventually succumb to bathos from repetition.

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63

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Strange and gloomy.

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63

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Gibson's acting has deepened. Too bad his comeback vehicle springs so many leaks.

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63

Premiere Gene Newman

Apart from feeling misled by the trailers, it's a decent, middle-of-the-road adult thriller that competently goes through the paces.

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63

New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott

Director Martin Campbell does a nice job of creating suspense, and Ray Winstone stands out for his performance as a conflicted hitman.

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60

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

In Hollywood, all is forgiven if you can deliver the goods. On-screen, at least, there’s little difference between this Gibson and the one we remember from earlier films like “Ransom” and “Payback.”

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60

Empire Nev Pierce

An uneven, somewhat meandering thriller is given emotional pull by Mel Gibson’s excellent comeback performance. The lethal weapon hasn’t lost it.

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60

Time Out New York Keith Uhlich

There’s no room for such soul-searching uncertainty with Gibson. After a few rapidly ticked-off minutes of gloom, the mission is clear: Get the sons of bitches, and make ’em pay.

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60

Variety Brian Lowry

Campbell's topnotch production team yields predictably polished results, but the director's decision to revisit the late Troy Kennedy Martin's teleplay, finally, feels lacking.

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60

Boxoffice Magazine Pete Hammond

They’ve shed all of the Brit-centric political aspects and updated it to make a riveting, pulse-pounding suspense thriller that really does keep you on ‘edge.’

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50

Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore

An odd duck of a thriller. Quiet, talkative, with the occasional explosion of violence, it has ghosts and characters philosophizing, quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald or blurting insensitive non-sequiturs.

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50

Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen

Martin Campbell directed, displaying none of the flair that made his “Casino Royale” such a hoot.

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50

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Considering the talent involved and the strength of the source material, there's no way Edge of Darkness should have been this disappointing. Part of the problem is a direct result of condensation - there's no way to cram six hours of the dense mini-series upon which the movie is based into about 110 minutes without paying a penalty.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Quickly devolves into another showcase for Gibson’s snorting-bull act, a routine he could happily have shelved during his time off.

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50

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Edge of Darkness is reasonably well executed, but its competence reeks of fatigue. Another dead kid. Another angry dad. Another day at the office.

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50

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Feels like a movie that wants to bare its fangs, but only manages a mild gumming.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The larger shell game here is that Edge of Darkness is offered as a political thriller, but with real-world politics removed. What we’re left with is a familiar mechanism for delivering a vicarious, violent, wish-fulfilment fantasy, with Mel in a familiar position, in the driver’s seat, pedal to the metal.

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50

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

The movie isn't exactly full of twists and turns, but neither is it a long, hard slog.

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40

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Edge of Darkness has the look and feel of a Brit film shot in America – it's all dark, boxy rooms with powerful white men in impeccable black suits discussing how to tidy up the minor mishaps of their game over brandy and cigars.

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38

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

Here most of the punishment is inflicted on the audience, which gets nailed to a cross of boredom.

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30

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Edge of Darkness was one of the most enthralling, intricate and genuinely thrilling productions in the history of the small screen. The big-screen version--directed by Martin Campbell, who did the original--offers an example of why the studios' numbers often add up, and why, at the same time, so many of today's Hollywood movies leave us cool if not downright cold.

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25

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A thriller boasting Mel Gibson's first starring role in eight years, elicits a gigantic wow -- as in ``Wow, does this movie suck!''

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

James H. gave it a7:
The theme of the movie (man seeks revenge) has been done countless times (Clint Eastwood movies even Law Abiding Citizen from this year and many more) but this one is done well. There are a few eye-rolling unbelievable moments but overall very entertaining.

Tom C. gave it an8:
Very stylish and intelligent film, slow in parts but will keep you hooked.

Lynn gave it a9:
I quite liked it! It was a thinking movie with enough suspense to keep me interested. I'd see it again.

Rob R gave it a7:
I never really fully believed in the bad guys, but I was never really bored either.

Mary L gave it a7:
I like it alot. Sure it was cliched and it was like watching mel Gibson all over again in the Patriot adn Braveheart, but for a good, enjoyable move, if you didn't think about it too much, it was great! But one question, can anyone tell me how Mel Gibson's character got the radiation?

Justin P. gave it a10:
when I heard about this movie I knew critics would oh so predictally do everything in their power to find its flaw... but this movie punches you in the gut repeated times until awarding you with a somewhat happy ending.... girlier critics are bashing this movie because in the end it turns into a die hard kind of thing... maybe they were expecting a big romantic moment where mel gibson kisses the bad guy in the end??

ZeeZee M gave it a9:
Agree critics are being harsh on this one, - maybe because of Mel. i enjoyed it and so did the crowd i watched it with!

Read more user comments >

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