Jean-Francois Richet's Blood Father, an adaptation of the Peter Craig novel, is the B movie sleeper of the year. The daughter in peril trope that hit a chord with the popularity of the Taken series is a snug fit for Mel Gibson who is a suitably mad dad. Gibson plays an ex-con who makes a living inking tattoos in his decrepit trailer. Gibson is at his most soulful and unhinged, reveling in the surrounding scuzz. Richet also gets wonderful turns from old pros like William H. Macy, Michael Parks, Diego Luna, and Miguel Sandoval. What is most impressive is the strong performances he gets from his newcomers, Erin Moriarty is sturdy in the wobbly role of the daughter and Thomas Mann stands out in his few scenes as a sympathetic desk clerk.
Richet conjures a vision of white, blue-collar America struggling for survival at the dawn of the Trump administration, a vision that captures the feelings of hopelessness and orneriness that led this group to form a posse comitatus that rescued Trump's campaign. Out of the scraps of a genre project, Richet has fashioned not only a solid action film, but, also, genuine termite art reminiscent of a Fuller or Siegel B from the 50s. (1/20/17)
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