Directed by Mel Gibson
Written by Jared Rosenberg
Say what you will about Mel Gibson the man, but he is a Hollywood legend with countless credits to his name that are hit movies and dynamite roles. If you look at his work solely as a director, the films he has made are all of a certain quality and entertainment level. Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto and Hacksaw Ridge are all good, well made movies. And while he has not sat in the director’s chair since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, and he has made a slew of bad movies since then, I would figure his return here with a capable cast would right the ship and we would be treated to a taut, exciting January thriller with all the makings of a fun time at the movies. Instead, what we get is a real drag. This movie sucked.
Marshal Harris (Michelle Dockery) has made a breakthrough arrest in the case against mob boss Moretti when she tracks down his accountant, Winston (Topher Grace) in remote Alaska on the eve of Moretti’s trial. Hoping to whisk him away to New York in time to testify against Moretti, after Winston agrees to a deal, Harris charters a plane to get them out of the wilderness. But once airborne, Harris and Winston quickly discover that Daryl (Mark Wahlberg), their supposed pilot, is not who he says he is. They must find a way to work together in a confined space to overtake the plane and make it back to Anchorage safely before time, fuel and Daryl’s will expire.
Honestly, the scenario here is the perfect setup for a nice little January action thriller with no bells and whistles. 90 minutes of pure adrenaline and fun. It would take a lot to derail such a B-movie setup and make it out without any pure thrills or intentional comedy, right!? Well, let me tell you how this one goes. In what is a pretty safe outline for a script, screenwriter Jared Rosenberg manages to pen the most inane and idiotic dialogue throughout the film, complete with either obvious plot holes or completely incompetent character actions. I’m not sure which one is worse. Incompetence I could get on board with if more was made of it, but it’s just not as written into the story as it could have been.
Now, in fairness, I am sure there will be audience members who react differently to this film, seeing it through the lens of stupid January fun. I cannot blame them, as that is exactly what I was looking for when I bought my ticket for the film. But I can only go so far without any true thrills, cool character moments, or any sense of logic or sensible dialogue. I wanted this to be worse, but in a better way. I wanted it to either surprise me with its clever plotting and character development, or be so bad that I could get a chance to laugh at the film along with the filmmakers. This, unfortunately, is not a so bad it’s good type of movie. It’s just bad.
And what is most surprising is the talent assembled here, knowing they are more than capable of producing good work. But I’m not sure they were all on the same page. Dockery is too earnest against the other two. Wahlberg is too cartoonish against the other two. Grace might have actually brought exactly what was needed to his role as Winston, but set against what the other two are doing, it still doesn’t work. None of it works. I hate to say it, but there is a lot about this movie that is Razzie Award worthy. I cannot overstate how disappointing the experience of seeing this movie was, and I hope to help you avoid the same. Or I don’t know, maybe you will take to how dumb the movie was differently than I did. If you see it, I really do wish that for you.
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