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56
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45
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23
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65
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61
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30
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63
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74
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79
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74
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57
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33
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52
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61
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66
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21
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33
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31
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38
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66
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58
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44
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43
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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35
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xx
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68
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66
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52
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56
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xx
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71
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83
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73
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74
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64
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73
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50
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66
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47
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67
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85
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56
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75
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76
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30
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38
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52
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60
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53
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43
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76
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68
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77
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68
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66
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69
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49
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76
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59
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80
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79
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91
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60
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67
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74
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79
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55
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65
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53
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63
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76
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66
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37
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47
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64
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71
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65
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37
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63
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68
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42
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47
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48
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77
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56
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69
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68
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Edge of Darkness
EMAILPRINTWarner Bros. Pictures

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 53 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
William Monahan
Andrew Bovell
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 29, 2010
DVD: May 11, 2010
Running Time: 117 minutes, Color
Origin: UK | USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong bloody violence and language
Starring Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic, Frank Grillo, and Gbenga Akinnagbe
Edge of Darkness is an emotionally charged thriller set at the intersection of politics and big business. Thomas 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. But he soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter's secret life and her killing. His investigation leads him into a dangerous, looking glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder – and to shadowy government operative Darius Jedburgh, who has been sent in to clean up the evidence. Craven's solitary search for answers about his daughter's death transforms into an odyssey of emotional discovery and redemption. (Warner Bros.)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Beyond Borders Casino Royale GoldenEye The Legend of Zorro The Mask of Zorro Vertical Limit
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
An intense Mel Gibson performance anchors this brutally effective crime thriller.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
His (Gibson) slow-burn fury keeps the movie going, but not enough to invest us in any justice beyond payback.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Campbell’s film offers not surprises, exactly, but craftsmanship and low, brute, cunning satisfactions.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
I don't see Edge of Darkness as a great movie, or a particularly exalted one, but I do see it as one made by people who know where the buttons are - and who know how to press them. Hard.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Though the experience is nerve-racking and cathartic under Campbell's skilled direction, musings on family and grief and Gibson's intense, but subtle, performance stay with us longest.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Perhaps the best compliment I can pay to his work in Edge of Darkness is that I wouldn't particularly want to see this movie with grumpy Harrison Ford starring instead. Welcome back, Mel.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
A meathead revenge picture, but it’s very satisfying. Director Martin Campbell, coming off "Casino Royale," has a style that’s blunt and bruising.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Edge of Darkness is somewhat stylish, and it's intelligently made.
Read Full Review >Arizona Republic Bill Goodykoontz
Both the film and television project were directed by Martin Campbell. He creates a nice level of tension throughout, and there are a couple of legitimate shocks (including one jaw-dropper).
Read Full Review >Village Voice Nick Pinkerton
Onscreen much of the time, thicker and more creased than you remember, Gibson can make this rather unshapely movie seem taut.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Winstone's interaction with Gibson provides the movie with much of its interest. For the rest, it's a skillful exercise in CGI and standard-order thriller supplies.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Sam Allis
The movie’s weaknesses include the overuse of grainy flashbacks of Craven’s daughter as a child, and the conversations he has with her after she is gone. Both are tremendously moving ideas but eventually succumb to bathos from repetition.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Gibson's acting has deepened. Too bad his comeback vehicle springs so many leaks.
Read Full Review >Premiere Gene Newman
Apart from feeling misled by the trailers, it's a decent, middle-of-the-road adult thriller that competently goes through the paces.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
Director Martin Campbell does a nice job of creating suspense, and Ray Winstone stands out for his performance as a conflicted hitman.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
In Hollywood, all is forgiven if you can deliver the goods. On-screen, at least, there’s little difference between this Gibson and the one we remember from earlier films like “Ransom” and “Payback.”
Read Full Review >Empire Nev Pierce
An uneven, somewhat meandering thriller is given emotional pull by Mel Gibson’s excellent comeback performance. The lethal weapon hasn’t lost it.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Keith Uhlich
There’s no room for such soul-searching uncertainty with Gibson. After a few rapidly ticked-off minutes of gloom, the mission is clear: Get the sons of bitches, and make ’em pay.
Read Full Review >Variety Brian Lowry
Campbell's topnotch production team yields predictably polished results, but the director's decision to revisit the late Troy Kennedy Martin's teleplay, finally, feels lacking.
Read Full Review >Boxoffice Magazine Pete Hammond
They’ve shed all of the Brit-centric political aspects and updated it to make a riveting, pulse-pounding suspense thriller that really does keep you on ‘edge.’
Read Full Review >Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore
An odd duck of a thriller. Quiet, talkative, with the occasional explosion of violence, it has ghosts and characters philosophizing, quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald or blurting insensitive non-sequiturs.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen
Martin Campbell directed, displaying none of the flair that made his “Casino Royale” such a hoot.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Considering the talent involved and the strength of the source material, there's no way Edge of Darkness should have been this disappointing. Part of the problem is a direct result of condensation - there's no way to cram six hours of the dense mini-series upon which the movie is based into about 110 minutes without paying a penalty.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Quickly devolves into another showcase for Gibson’s snorting-bull act, a routine he could happily have shelved during his time off.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Edge of Darkness is reasonably well executed, but its competence reeks of fatigue. Another dead kid. Another angry dad. Another day at the office.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Feels like a movie that wants to bare its fangs, but only manages a mild gumming.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
The larger shell game here is that Edge of Darkness is offered as a political thriller, but with real-world politics removed. What we’re left with is a familiar mechanism for delivering a vicarious, violent, wish-fulfilment fantasy, with Mel in a familiar position, in the driver’s seat, pedal to the metal.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The movie isn't exactly full of twists and turns, but neither is it a long, hard slog.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Edge of Darkness has the look and feel of a Brit film shot in America – it's all dark, boxy rooms with powerful white men in impeccable black suits discussing how to tidy up the minor mishaps of their game over brandy and cigars.
Read Full Review >St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams
Here most of the punishment is inflicted on the audience, which gets nailed to a cross of boredom.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Edge of Darkness was one of the most enthralling, intricate and genuinely thrilling productions in the history of the small screen. The big-screen version--directed by Martin Campbell, who did the original--offers an example of why the studios' numbers often add up, and why, at the same time, so many of today's Hollywood movies leave us cool if not downright cold.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
A thriller boasting Mel Gibson's first starring role in eight years, elicits a gigantic wow -- as in ``Wow, does this movie suck!''
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 53 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jackson gave it an8:
Mel Gibson is a great actor in this heart pounding thriller.
Aaron P gave it a9:
Was really happy with this movie. Intelligent, coherent plot. Slightly predictable mystery, but the way it plays itself out is expertly handled. Great performances, excellent conclusion. Critics had the fix in on this one from the start.
Tony B. gave it a6:
Mel comes back with a vengeance and is well supported in an actioner that is best enjoyed if you don't ask too many questions. t
Roger R gave it a4:
Worst movie I've seen in a long time. Very bad acting from Mel Gibson.
Ska A gave it a6:
The thing about this movie is that its solid acting and emotional pull cover up a convoluted story with some serious plot holes. But Mel Gibson plays the vengeful vigilante role very well.
Brent P gave it a5:
The highlight of the film is the ultimate payback. However, is the payoff worth sitting through the first half of the film? It's hard to say. Perhaps you should see the film if you need a vicarious dose of revenge. Otherwise, it's not all that satisfying.
Nav A gave it a10:
Mel Gibson is a gifted actor and director. Forget the biased reviews from critics with a political axe to grind regarding Mel. The movie is excellent entertainment. Highly recommended.
