What Do The Critics Say?

"Gibson proves he’s still not to be messed with in a film that reasserts him as a sturdy, if rather grizzled leading man." Neil Smith TOTAL FILM "Gibson's deeply lined features and thinning mane complement a performance that is finely tuned and textured." Bruce Demara TORONTO STAR "Gibson and Winstone shine in this revenge film with a purpose." Kevin McCarthy BDK REVIEWS "A bleak but engrossing and gripping thriller." Roz Laws BIRMINGHAM POST "Gibson dominates the elaborate action with an assured performance." Ted Fry SEATTLE TIMES "A crime drama that's exciting in the moment and lingers in the mind." Mick LaSalle SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "A thriller that will keep you guessing right up to its poetic but fitting ending." Daniel M Kimmel NEW ENGLAND MOVIES WEEKLY "The film version condenses six episodes of edge-of-seat suspense into an engrossing two hours." Catherine Jones LIVERPOOL ECHO "Gibson has fire in his eye and gravel in his Bahston accent." Marshall Fine HOLLYWOOD & FINE "The screenplay gives us the passenger seat in a fast ride. Gibson is surprisingly vulnerable as the tough but caring (and ageing) hero." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE

"Gibson is on good form and Campbell, as you would expect from the director of "Casino Royale" and "GoldenEye", stages some effective set pieces." Adam Smith RADIO TIMES "A riveting, smart and unexpectedly moving thriller." Annette Basile FILMINK "Deeper and more thought-provoking film than I could have expected or imagined." Danny Minton FORT BEND SUN "It's good to have you back, Mel." Adam Tobias WATERTOWN DAILY NEWS "A remarkably accomplished thriller." Brian Tallerico MOVIE RETRIEVER "Mel Gibson serves up a ferocious performance." Tyler Hanley PALO ALTO WEEKLY "Has some intriguing layers and surprising twists that get your full attention." Kit Bowen THE MOVIE KIT "This movie marks the return of 'Mad Mel' and he is in rare form. He dominates the film by being believably bereaved and vengeful." Jackie K. Cooper JACKIEKCOOPER.COM "It's a demanding role and Gibson has the gravitas and charisma to hold our attention as we venture with him to the edge." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

Who's Playing Who?

Mel Gibson Bojana Novakovic Gabrielle Popa Ray Winstone Danny Huston Tom Kemp Shawn Roberts David Aaron Baker Jay O Sanders Denis O'Hare Damian Young Caterina Scorsone Wayne Duvall Gbenga Akinnagbe Rick Avery Peter Hermann

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Craven Emma Craven Young Emma Jedburgh Jack Bennett Paul Honeywell Burnham Millroy Whitehouse Moore Senator Jim Pine Melissa Chief of Police Detective Darcy Jones Robinson Jr Sanderman

The Inside Story He's a dual Oscar ® winner, has a new partner in his life (Russian girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva) and he recently became a father for the eighth time with the birth of daughter Lucia Anne on October 30th 2009. Now he's back onscreen again for the first time in seven years after a highly successful period behind the camera directing "The Passion of the Christ" (2004) and the spell-binding "Apocalypto" (2006). It's an impressive return to the screen for the man who was born in Peekskill, New York, USA, moved to Australia in 1968, studied at NIDA, was roommates with Geoffrey Rush and now takes the lead role in, "Edge Of Darkness". Why now? "It was an intriguing story," says Gibson. "That’s the main thing. If I think it’ll be compelling and entertaining to an audience, I’m on board." "Mel was our first and only choice for Craven. The part called for someone of his caliber; there aren’t a lot of actors who have the kind of gravitas that he has," says the film’s director, Martin Campbell. Oscar ® winning Producer Graham King ("The Departed") stated: "We really wanted Mel, and we were so lucky to get him back in front of the camera and in a role he’s just perfect for." "What really grabbed me was how the story sneaks up on you," Gibson offers. The actor met with King and Campbell and felt they were "two clever guys who had a clear and smart vision of the movie, and I knew it would be great working with them." In a rather unusual turn of events, Campbell has now directed "Edge of Darkness" not once but twice, taking on the feature film after first directing the award winning BBC television miniseries in 1985. Based on the success of the six part series, BBC Films had begun developing a feature version of the story; it was Campbell who brought the project to the attention of King who, along with Tim Headington ("The Young Victoria"), produced the film under the GK Films banner. "Someone suggested the possibility of making it into a film about five years ago," the director recalls. "I thought it was a great idea. I’ve always felt it was a very powerful story: a father loses his daughter and goes on a journey of discovery not only to find out who killed her and why, but also who she really was. He’s someone who loved his daughter, and thought he understood her, but what he discovers is that she was involved in a whole way of life that he knew nothing about." "I responded emotionally to the father/daughter storyline," Oscar ® winning screenwriter William Monahan ("The Departed") offers. "I have a young daughter so I basically put myself in the shoes of the protagonist, and asked what I would do if this happened to me." "Edge Of Darkness" lauched on TV on the 4th of November 1985 with "Compassionate Leave" and reached its climax with the finale "Fusion" on December 9th 1985. The other episodes were: "Into the Shadows" 11/11, "Burden of Proof" 18/11, "Breakthrough" 25/11 and "Northmoor" 2/12. The miniseries captivated a country in the throes of intense domestic and international tensions. It was a time in Britain of an ongoing Cold War and the still-looming nuclear threat of the then Soviet Union. International terrorism also took shape in figures such as Libya’s Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, and public concerns over nuclear war were higher than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. And there was trepidation over the aura of secrecy surrounding the nuclear industry. In this atmosphere, "Edge of Darkness" struck a nerve with the public’s concerns and fears, resulting in the show becoming a popular and critical sensation. Accolades soon followed in the form of six British Academy of Film & Television Awards (BAFTA), including Best Drama/Series. Two time Australian Film Institute Award winner ("Tim" & "Gallipoli") and the AFI 2002 Global Achievement Award winner Gibson remembers, "It was a mystery, a crime thriller, and a political thriller, and it was set in a time in the UK when there was a lot of political unrest. The series reflected its time very well." "The series in the '80s had very much to do with the government’s nuclear policy," says Campbell. "Plutonium and the manufacturing of plutonium were big issues, as well as the body that monitored them. It was a hot potato. And "Edge of Darkness" was a series very relevant to those important issues. But at its center, it also was a story about a father who loses his daughter and needs to find out why this happened to her, and to him." For the feature film, the political aspects of the story would have to be updated, but the heart of the picture would stay the same. AFI Award winning Australian writer Andrew Bovell ("Lantana") initiated the process of transforming the six-hour series, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, into a two-hour motion picture. "I was a great fan of the miniseries when it first screened," Bovell recalls. "Troy Kennedy Martin was really ahead of his time; his warning about the dangerous nexus between corporate industry and covert government operations is as relevant now as it was in 1985. Martin Campbell’s invitation to work on the adaptation was one of the most exciting offers I had ever had." "Setting the film in Boston was Andrew’s idea," says Campbell. "Boston is a city that is very English and Irish in terms of its roots. Originally we had our hero, Craven, from the north of England near Leeds, so it seemed like a perfect evolution for an American movie to make him Boston Irish." Perhaps no other screenwriter today has written about the Boston area more successfully than William Monahan, who was brought on board by King. In 2006, they won Academy Awards for "The Departed." King especially wanted the native Bostonian to infuse the "Edge of Darkness" screenplay with his own unique flavor. "Bill is the essence of Bostonian wit. It’s gritty but emanates from the highest place of legendary storytelling," says Gibson ("Maverick" & "Payback"). "I’m a little leery of being the Boston guy," Monahan ("Body of Lies") says. Having lived as much in Los Angeles, New York and London as he ever did in his hometown, Monahan none the less, felt connected to the material. "Craven’s one of those Roslindale guys. He’s a man of very regular and organized habits, who doesn’t permit himself much luxury. He has his life, he has his house, and he has his loneliness. He’s a widower with a daughter who means a very great deal to him. Once he loses her, he loses everything." Because the story revolves around this character’s journey and redemption, the casting had to be perfect. "I think the part of a bereaved father consumed by grief, who gradually sets out to find and avenge those who killed his daughter, was attractive to Mel," Campbell observed. "Craven is very pedestrian," says Gibson, "just a guy who’s getting by, day to day. He hasn’t been the greatest father but he provided. His journey now is a war of attrition; everything that happens wears away at who he is. The stress, the traumatic experience of losing a child like that, has him just a little unhinged and walking around most of the time in a state of near breakdown." Campbell has great admiration for Gibson noting he "gave a terrific performance in a very demanding role that had him in front of the camera every day. He didn’t get a day off from filming; his character is in almost every scene. He worked very hard and it shows in his performance." Craven has cause to tread carefully, especially when the imposing figure of Darius Jedburgh shows up unannounced in his backyard. Two time NBR Award winning British actor Ray Winstone ("Last Orders" 2001 & "The Departed" 2006) plays the only Brit in an otherwise all-American cast of characters. In a sort of role-reversal, Jedburgh was the only American character in the all-British miniseries. Says Campbell, who first worked with the actor early in their careers, some 30 years ago, "Ray brings a very powerful, underlyingly threatening quality to the character of Darius Jedburgh, who at the same time is a total enigma." "Those are the parts you want to play. I think Jedburgh is a clever man who is capable of being a cold-blooded killer," Winstone revealed. "He knows how to maneuver, how to work people. I felt he would have to have a certain amount of charm for Mel’s character, in his state of grief and anger, to stand there and talk to him." "Jedburgh is a very powerful man who clearly has been involved with government work for many years," Campbell offered. "You don’t really know what agency, if any, he works for, or why he is endowed with the power he has." Northmoor, Emma’s employer at the time of her murder, is a top-security, private research compound with government contracts—though it appears the government turns a blind eye to what they are doing. It is run by a man named Jack Bennett. "Bennett is your ultimate villain for today’s climate," King describes, "a charismatic businessman with a slick façade, a real sleazy 'suit' put in a very high-powered position." 2005 Satellite Award winner Danny Huston ("The Constant Gardener") was cast as the corrupt character. "I love playing characters that are evil but find a way to justify their actions. I don’t think Bennett is political, he just knows how to use that world to his advantage. He feels he doesn’t have to answer to anyone. To him, it’s not a political game, it’s a money game." Shawn Roberts was cast as Emma’s boyfriend and fellow Northmoor employee, Daniel Burnham. "The script really pulled me in," Roberts declares. Serbian-born actress Bojana Novakovic ("The Monkey's Mask") plays the role of Emma, whose murder is the catalyst of the story. "I found it to be a very interesting mix, this emotionally driven story that exists because of an action that this young woman took. Novakovic met Gibson during the rehearsal period, before shooting began, and the chemistry between the two was immediate, making the father-daughter relationship a very real and believable one. "There’s a sense of gravity about Bojana," says Gibson ("Signs"), "something intrinsic to her. She’s a presence. You remember her." "Edge of Darkness" was filmed on location in and around the Boston area, including the historic Back Bay; the Boston Commons and Public Gardens; a stately Tudor mansion in Manchester; Charlestown; Newburyport; Lincoln; Merrimac; and Rockport. The interiors of Craven’s house and Emma’s apartment were shot on sets built at the Chelsea Stages. The company also filmed in western Massachusetts, in the picturesque towns of Northampton and Amherst and atop Mt Sugarloaf in Deerfield, during the height of the autumn foliage season, known in New England as 'the colors'. "Filming in Boston was terrific, as were the people," says Gibson. "Anywhere you looked, you got a pervasive sense of living history that gave you a true appreciation of our hard-won freedom. You felt you were in the cultural cradle of a young nation with the aged style and charm of Europe." Campbell says making the action appear very real was essential. "Stylistically, we shot it very simply; there are no pretentious or slick shots." Synopsis

Detective 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, that someone involved in a case he's been working on has targeted him. But Craven soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter’s secret life and why she was killed. His investigation will lead him into a dangerous, looking-glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder. Then a shadowy government operative named Jedburgh pays him a visit. He's a 'consultant' whose brief is to assess the situation, tidy up the loose ends and clean up the evidence. Craven’s solitary search for answers about his daughter’s death transforms into an odyssey of emotional discovery and total redemption.

The Verdict "In a world undergoing constant change it's good to see some things never change: especially when it comes to expat aussie, Mel Gibson. After a long absence, Gibson moves from behind the camera, to swap his Directors cap for a starring role in the edge of your seat, adult thriller: "Edge Of Darkness". It's a role tailor made for the fifty three year old who cuts a commanding figure as Detective Tom Craven, a man on a mission: a father who wants answers and isn't afraid to do what it takes to get them. Gibson obviously has a fire in the belly and is out to prove a point. "Edge Of Darkness" and the character Tom Craven proves beyond all doubt that Gibson still has that star power. In an emotional and engery charged performance Gibson erases every fear or nagging doubt we may have had regarding his ability to still captivate and entertain an audience. But "Edge Of Darkness" isn't all about Gibson. The support cast, headed up by Ray Winstone and Danny Huston, is indeed outstanding. In fact, "Edge Of Darkness" is hard to fault on any count, leading us to the hope that we will see more of Gibson in the future. 4 1/2 STARS." The Crew

Director Screenplay Adapted from Producers Original Music D.O.P. Film Editor Casting Production Designer Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Design

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Martin Campbell William Monahan & Andrew Bovell the BBC TV Series by Troy Kennedy Martin Tim Headington/Graham King/Michael Wearing Howard Shore Phil Meheux Stuart Baird Pam Dixon & Carolyn Pickman Thomas E Sanders Mark Satterlee & Suzan Wexler Jay Hart & Christopher Milot Lindy Hemming

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