Blood Father (2016)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
John Link	Mel Gibson
Lydia Link	Erin Moriarty
Kirby Curtis	William H. Macy	½
Jonah Pincerna	Diego Luna
Jayson	Thomas Mann
Cherise	Dale Dickey
Preacher	Michael Parks
Cleaner	Raoul Trujillo

Review

It's good to see Mel Gibson back in his good-old crazy-eyed, frenetic action-mode, and it's a pleasant surprise to see that he has actually toned himself down to fit his current age. He looks ravaged by time, but considering that, he couldn't have found a better role than this "blood father" John Link. He's an ex-convict and recovering alcoholic living in a trailer park when one day his runaway teenage daughter calls to tell him she's gotten in trouble with a rather bad-ass drug-dealing gang. It's a merciless dog-eat-dog world novelist/screenwriter Peter Craig tells about here, filled with all kinds of desperados and opportunists. At face value nothing is new under the sun, but the story is tight, and director Jean-Francois Richet's economical style makes the film unstoppably suspenseful. And although the relationship between father Gibson and daughter Erin Moriarty is something of a film cliché, there's a sweetness and genuineness between them that makes it stand out. Moriarty may well be a real talent. And so are several of the supporting players here: Macy, Luna, Parks and Dickey.