At one time, Mel Gibson was the kind of actor who could make any movie he wanted. He had the star power to command dollars at the box office and please the critics. If you were to tell somebody in the year 2000 that Mel’s career would soon be taking a hiatus, you would have garnered a good laugh. By the year 2004, Mel’s movies had grossed more than $3,000,000,000 worldwide, with 2 Oscar wins under his belt. The guy had it made! Nothing short of a racist rant while intoxicated would stop him. Unfortunately, that is exactly what led to Mel’s downfall in Hollywood. He has admitted to having an on-and-off drinking problem throughout his life and it finally got the best of him when he was arrested for a DUI in 2006. During this arrest he went on a racist and anti-Semitic rant to the cop arresting him. The audio went public and damaged his career and reputation for the next decade. In 2010, he started to see some steady work, but nothing that could free him from his bad reputation and the weight of his past transgressions. For the unforeseeable future, it would seem that Mel’s career would never return to the levels it was at once upon a time. That is, until 2016.
Ever since his rants and moments of shame, he has been very open and apologized profusely on talk shows and interviews. Even then, it is still hard for people to cut him a break. In August of 2016, Mel gave what I believe to be his best performance in the last 20 years, in the film Blood Father. He plays a tattoo artist/ex-con who has been in and out of rehab most of his life. Breaking ties and losing friendships along the way makes for a character that shares some similarities with the actor in real life. The opening scene of the movie is most certainly more than simple exposition. It is an apology Mel is making to his fans and Hollywood for his past mistakes. He has been working to learn and move on from his past, and is simply asking us to forgive him. I think it is time we finally allow Mel Gibson back into theaters. The rest of the movie is a non-stop thrill ride filled with some great action sequences blended perfectly with sentiment and symbolism. It is definitely one of my favorite movies of the year and is a strong vehicle to help put Mel back on stage. It reminds us why we loved him in the first place.
Lucky for us, Mel would not only be giving us a fantastic acting performance in 2016, but what I believe to be an Oscar-worthy directed film: Hacksaw Ridge. This film tells the amazing true story of a WWII Army Medic, Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), who goes into battle refusing to kill, let alone touch a weapon, all while saving more than 75 people in the middle of war. We haven’t seen war displayed on the big screen like this since Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998). While the film industry has produced hundreds, if not thousands of movies depicting the horrors of war, Mel still manages to show us that he is a master behind the camera, giving us some original and beautifully crafted shots throughout the film. I have not had a film affect me the way this film did, nearly bringing me to tears at moments. It will definitely allow you to view our veterans in a different light and appreciate even more so what they went through for their country. But beyond veteran appreciation, Mel takes his time with the characters and the story and handles it all so perfectly. I managed to never check my watch even once. It is a movie-going experience that I will not soon forget. This film is a must-see and most definitely became one of my favorites of the year.
Look, I know there are some people out there that are still offended by the terrible and awful things that Mel has said in years past. He did say some disgusting things. But who are we to deny him apology and forgiveness? Are we not better than the worst things we have done? Do not let Mel’s past actions hinder you from having a satisfying and uplifting movie-going experience. This reminds me of the conversation of “separating the art from the artist.” If you are someone who loves the movies Chinatown or The Pianist, then you have already separated the actions of Roman Polanski from his masterpieces. You don’t have to love Mel Gibson and agree with everything he says or does, but you can appreciate his work and give credit to where credit is due. The fact that he recognizes his wrongdoings and has worked very hard in the last decade to come back into the spotlight is even more reason for me to support him. We all hope that the people we know can forgive us for our mistakes, and I suggest we try and do the same for him. Mel is back, and he’s here to stay.
