Mel Gibson

[7] Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon) directs this crime thriller about a wealthy businessman (Mel Gibson) whose young son is kidnapped and held for ransom. With the boy’s life hanging in the balance, Gibson must decide whether to take the FBI’s advice or go with his gut on the best way to see his son alive again. Ransom moves briskly and offers a few …

[6] I was home sick with bronchitis and in desperate need of a diversion. I flipped onto Hulu and found Daddy’s Home Two. I’d never even heard of Daddy’s Home One, but I saw that this comedy sequel had John Lithgow in it, so I thought, ‘What the heck.’ Basically, Mark Wahlberg is a loser dad whose kids now live with their step-dad, played by …

[7] The sequel is more of the same, but that’s not always a bad thing. There’s enough talent in front of and behind the cameras in the Lethal Weapon movies to warrant at least one or two entertaining sequels. The plot is a bit less compelling, and the love story with Patsy Kensit is haphazardly tacked on, but there’s plenty of action and fun banter …

[8] Mel Gibson and Danny Glover star in this definitive ‘buddy cop’ movie directed by Richard Donner (Superman, The Omen). What sets this apart from its imitators are the well-rounded characters created by screenwriter Shane Black, and the engaging chemistry between Gibson and Glover. Lethal Weapon is a highly polished action flick. In addition to Donner’s slick staging, the film also sports terrific night-time cinematography …

[6] This Dino DeLaurentiis production of the infamous tale of mutiny welcomes more shades of gray into the characters of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian than the 1935 original film, though I wouldn’t say it’s a better film overall. Bligh and Christian are portrayed by Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson, respectively. Bligh is a more complicated and sympathetic character; Christian is a more blindly passionate …

[7] Mel Gibson returns as the iconic Mad Max, joined by Tina Turner in a fun, villainous role. But the third film in the series is also the weakest, first signaled by the PG-13 rating, a ridiculous attempt to make a hard-edged action franchise more family-friendly. The script splits the story into two distinct parts that then converge on each other in the third act. …

[7] Beneath the cutesy veneer of this big-budget family spectacle is a surprisingly morose Ghost and Mrs. Muir subplot. The screenplay is a bit scattershot in its aim, but I have to give this flick major kudos for tackling the subjects of death and loneliness for a family audience. There are a few terrific little scenes between young Christina Ricci and Casper, an ILM confection …

[3] Mel Gibson plays a drug dealer trying to come clean. Kurt Russell plays a cop assigned to bring Mel down. Trouble is, they’re kinda friends. And now they’re both sort of in love with the same woman, a restaurant owner played by Michelle Pfeiffer. All three leading actors are beautiful to look at, especially in Conrad Hall’s Oscar-nominated cinematography. But writer/director Robert Towne’s script …

[4] Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr star in this action-comedy about American pilots who get caught up in a government-sanctioned opium trade in Vietnam War-era Laos. Once the pilots realize they’re about to be framed by one of their commanders to appease a head-hunting politician, they have to find a way to save their reputations and their lives. Air America is kinda heady stuff …

[5] Bird on a Wire is a big, goofy Hollywood action spectacular with two likeable stars at its center. Mel Gibson plays an FBI informant in witness protection and Goldie Hawn plays an old flame he left at the altar when the feds reassigned him a new identity. Now they’re reunited and on the lam from a dirty fed and his hit men. This is …