Blood Father

(Image credit: © Warner Brothers Pictures)

Mel Gibson plays a recovering alcoholic ex-con taking desperate steps to redeem himself in this pulpy B-movie action thriller

Mel Gibson plays a recovering alcoholic ex-con taking desperate steps to redeem himself in this pulpy B-movie action thriller.

It's quite a shock when we first see the grizzled Mel's weather-beaten, heavily lined face. However, he quickly proves his charisma is still intact when his character springs forth from his battered trailer in the California desert to protect his wayward, long-estranged daughter (Erin Moriarty) from a murderous drug cartel.

The ensuing action is very much in the Taken vein, with Gibson using his skills and contacts from his former life to evade their pursuers, but director Jean-François Richet handles the action briskly, while his star displays an impressive emotional vulnerability - when he isn't knocking lumps out of the bad guys, that is.

Look out for the ever-reliable William H Macy as Gibson’s trailer neighbour and AA sponsor.