Blood Father (2016) * *

Directed by:  Jean-Francois Richet

Starring:  Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, William H. Macy, Diego Luna, Michael Parks

Now that Mel Gibson directed last year's Hacksaw Ridge, which earned Gibson a return trip to the Oscars with a Best Director nomination, his list of projects may upgrade from movies like Blood Father.    However, he will appear in Daddy's Home 2 which will hit theaters in November, so maybe they won't upgrade too substantially.    Blood Father isn't an awful film, just one which Mel Gibson wouldn't have likely touched during his heyday as one of Hollywood's top leading men.    

Gibson lends world-weary experience and perhaps a bit of real-life truth to his role of John Link, a recovering alcoholic ex-con whose missing daughter shows up with drug dealers on her tail.    As a drug addict herself, Lydia (Moriarty) earned the wrath of a deadly cartel by killing the nephew of one of its leaders during a botched robbery.    She is on the run and calls her estranged father, who runs a tattoo parlor out of his desolate trailer somewhere in the California desert.   I can't imagine anyone being so desperate for a tattoo that someone would patronize Link's place, but he does seem to eke out a meager living while attending meetings and staying sober. 

Gibson's battles with alcohol are well-documented and the character of Link is not a thousand miles removed from Gibson himself.    When he says, "You can't be a prick all your life and just say 'never mind'," we sense he is speaking from real truth.     Gibson's performance adds gravitas to Blood Father and reminds us what a strong presence he is, even as his face becomes much more ragged and weather-beaten.    The performances are well above the material, which is mostly standard action, shoot-em-up stuff mixed in with a story of an estranged father and daughter learning to know each other again.   

Link relies on his past criminal experience to evade the drug dealers, who aren't far behind.    He calls in favors from shady folks like a former cohort turned Nazi memorabilia collector (Parks), who is a mixed bag of evil and lunacy buried under a façade of familiarity.     He also attempts to use his sobriety to nurse his daughter out of addiction, but I think the hail of bullets she is forced to withstand is far more sobering than anything her father tells her.

Blood Father isn't poorly made, but it is indistinguishable from other straight-to-on demand movies also.    It is by-the-numbers action with a knowing Mel Gibson performance mixed in which elevates it slightly.    I didn't hate it, but I couldn't muster up a lot of enthusiasm for it either.    It is kind of just there, with Gibson trying mightily to drag it along to its inevitable conclusion.