Edge of Darkness

Okay, I know Mel Gibson has said and done some things that no one would be proud about. But can't we let bygones be bygones? He has done no more wrong than half of the celebs we adore in Hollywood and we watch there movies and stalk them on TMZ and Perez Hilton. Let us also not forget, rather absurdly, people were willing to look passed what Roman Polanski had done due to his "tremendous" accomplishments in the film world. "Forgiveness is a virtue" has taken a backseat and I think its time we move it on up to shotgun.
Edge of Darkness stars Mel Gibson as a Boston detective who has just stood next to his estranged daughter as she was gunned down in his own house. After a depressing fall, Gibson rises up to avenge his daughters death by figuring out the story of his daughters mysterious work and untimely, horrific demise.
Gibson plays the role of a grieving, yet vengeful father to a tee. I thought he did a great job in his role at getting the audience, in this case just me, to root for him to succeed. This murder mystery I put right on up with the Ashley Judd/Morgan Freeman films, Kiss the Girls and High Crimes. I wasn't even bored during the scenes with mainly dialogue because the story was interesting enough to want to know everything going on.

My Elementary Grading Scale: Exceeding Expectations
1-10: 8/8.5

Everybody's Fine

There will never be another DeNiro. He has such a good way of leading you through a story with his stern yet comical sense about him. This film, Everybody's Fine, is one of his best performances in the last 20 years and that is no exaggeration. A widower goes on a quest to reconnect with his 4 children who have spread out over the U.S.. The only problem is that they are all covering a secret and tried at all costs to avoid him. After a series of unfortunate events he finds out just what is really going on and it forces him to re-think just how good of a job he did as a father.
This movie was done so well. Every aspect was intricately planned out and done in an extremely memorable way. The actors supporting DeNiro did a great job playing disconnected but loving children and this was the first time I actually liked Drew Barrymore since E.T.. If anyone asks me what my favorite movie lately has been, I will have to go with this. Maybe because I like human drama, or because it was great to see DeNiro performing so well, all in all, this film kept me entertained more so than most movies of this genre. I hope everyone gets a chance to see this at some point. Future classic.

My Elementary Grading Scale: Exceeding Expectations
1-10: 9