Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Blood Father Blu-ray Movie Review

Father and child reunion.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 15, 2016

Maybe Mel Gibson should make a film with Woody Allen, just so that once and for all those of us with any “meta” issues with regard to either of these icons of contemporary cinema might have the opportunity to see if their collaboration helped to cancel out each other’s various scandals. It’s become hard at times to watch Allen’s films, especially those with now troubling seeming jokes about sexual improprieties, without almost automatically being forced to think about all the “baggage” that has accrued around Allen. There’s something at least a little similar going on in Blood Father, where one of the first dialogue scenes features ex-con John Link (Mel Gibson) more or less directly delivering a “twelve step” update directly to the camera, as if Gibson himself were apologizing for, or at least owning up to, past improprieties. That scene comes after a brief look at a “missing child” poster which of course turns out to be John’s long lost daugher Lydia (Erin Moriarty). Lydia’s predicament informs the bulk of Blood Father, for the film quickly segues to a horrifying sequence that finds Lydia buying an incredible amount of 9mm ammunition at a local store (in a no doubt intentionally ironic interchange, the clerk demands her ID, not for the ammunition purchase, but for the cigarettes she also wants). Lydia is picked up by a gaggle of gang members, one of whom is evidently her seemingly abusive boyfriend. They all travel quickly to a house where some sort of revenge scenario is plotted, and Lydia’s boyfriend gives her a quick snort of cocaine to bolster her courage in acting as lookout at the home’s back door, replete with loaded gun. Things of course do not go as planned, especially after Lydia wanders into a backyard play scene with what are evidently kids who live at the home in question. With several dead bodies and surviving gang members not especially in “friendly” mode as the after effects of this interchange, Lydia is in exile and fearing for her own life. Suddenly her long estranged Dad seems to be a safety net, and she reaches out to him.

Blood Father of course reunites father and child, and the first part of the film deals with the reestablishing of their obviously fractured relationship, even as the warning signs of incipient danger begin to accrue. John is not exactly the kind of father Liam Neeson portrayed in Taken, you know, the kind with a “very particular set of skills”, though that’s not to say he’s completely unprepared to protect his wayward offspring. In fact, elements of Blood Father almost play like the flipside of Taken, where the father and daughter band together to try to prevent calamity. Playing into all of this is a rather potent subtext of two wounded personalities, both with obvious “issues” (substance abuse and/or otherwise), who suddenly are beset by an attack from without, necessitating a little less introspection and a little more in the defensive maneuver realm.

Blood Father harkens back in a way to the action adventure films like Lethal Weapon which helped to define Gibson’s earlier career, albeit mixed with the kind of character study that has informed the sometimes patently odd later Gibson efforts like The Beaver . Gibson is weathered and almost dilapidated looking in the film, with deep crags in his now older face, and a kind of “been there, seen that” ambience running through his performance. He’s still a steely presence, though, as the more visceral elements of the film prove. He brings a believability to the role which is refreshing, and his interactions with Moriarty are by and large emotionally realistic as well (a few early scenes are a bit halting, but that may be due to the characters’ attempts to reunite after so long).

The film tips over into a bit more of a cliché ridden showdown ambience as it goes along, but the good news is screenwriters Andrea Berloff and Peter Craig (adapting his own novel) have already provided enough solid character background that there’s actual emotional resonance running through what would otherwise be pretty standard shootout scenes. A number of grizzled supporting players turn up, including William H. Macy as John’s no nonsense 12 step sponsor, and Michael Parks as an old “colleague” of John’s.

Blood Father Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blood Father is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Once again the IMDb has no technical data to offer on this shoot, and even a rigorous internet search didn't turn up much in the way of verifiable information, but the sleek, sharp look of the film argues for digital capture. Close-ups offer at times astounding levels of fine detail, with almost topographical accounts of the crags of Gibson's face, and other elements like the fine hairs on his ears clearly visible (see screenshot 1 for just one good example). A lot of the film has a kind of buttery yellow tone, something that helps make its western setting strangely evocative despite the gritty subject matter. The palette generally looks natural even within the syrupy grading, and detail levels generally remain very strong in darker sequences as well. There are no issues with image instability.

Blood Father Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blood Father's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix gets regular bursts of activity courtesy of some of the action elements the film exploits. That includes the opening sequence with the family that's accosted by Lydia and the gang, where thrusts of LFE accompany some gunshots (something that's repeated later in the film as well). There are good panning effects in some of the chase sequences, and a general attention to detail in terms of realistic placement of ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is cleanly rendered and well prioritized on this problem free track.

Blood Father Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Lost Souls: On the Road with Blood Father (1080p; 27:50) gets a little bit more in depth than many EPKs, and offers some good interviews.

Blood Father Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Blood Father, despite its obvious action adventure elements, is in essence a character piece, and as such it provides a real showcase for Gibson, now entering the time in his life when grizzled elders will probably become his "new normal". He's appealingly natural in the film, whether tooling around with tattooing tools (John is a tattoo artist) or interacting with an equally appealing Moriarty as his daughter Lydia. A lot of the film is just ridiculously far fetched, but it's a tribute to the screenplay and to director Jean-François Richet's pacing that things feel realistic even when the logical mind knows they really aren't. A number of well appointed supporting turns by the likes of William H. Macy and Michael Parks help round out the film's overall gritty, lived in ambience. Technical merits are very strong, and even without a lot in the supplemental department, Blood Father comes Recommended.