Michael Polish’s pulpy B-movie “Force Of Nature” stars Mel Gibson — now, whether or not that’s a deal-breaker will depend on your perception of Gibson. I personally couldn’t care less about what the 64-year-old actor did or has done publicly. All I know is that he still has the chops to lead a movie. Ever since attempting a comeback, after being caught on tape slurring anti-semitic and just plain racist remarks, Gibson has starred in three down-and-dirty, but immensely watchable, B-movies (“Get the Gringo,” “Blood Father” and, especially “Dragged Across Concrete.”)
In “Force of Nature,” Gibson is a supporting player, albeit one with a lot of screen time and his face planted on the movie’s poster. Set in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Emile Hirsch, and Stephanie Cayo play two cops tasked with evacuating an entire apartment building during a Category 5 hurricane. However, almost all of the building’s residents have left, except for Mel Gibson’s Ray – an ailing retired cop whose doctor daughter (Kate Bosworth) pleads with the cops to convince him to exit ASAP. To make matters worse, a gang of thieves led by ‘John The Baptist’ (David Zayas) enter the complex in search of stolen Nazi art, which includes Van Gogh’s stolen and still missing Poppy Flowers, worth more than $55 million.
Forget about the accusations of racism being slung at Polish’s film — it’s not even remotely racist. Fine, the bad guys here are Puerto Rican, but, guess what? So is the heroine of the film, Latina officer Jess Peña (Cayo), a local who speaks Spanish and represents the moral compass of the whole piece. There’s also African-American actor Will Catlett cast as another of the apartment building inhabitants that refuses to leave his domicile. In fact, he is more worried about the large CGI-infused pet cat/tiger being hidden in his closet, ready to pounce on whoever opens the door. This subplot of the film is so ridiculously still, that it’s impressive to see the cast of actors here play it with a straight face whenever the feline shows up.
Playing the grumpy old former cop, Gibson is playfully subversive. His character Ray has a peculiar ailment; he needs a dialysis machine to function, but also proudly states that his next operation is a fecal transplant: “somebody else’s shit is injected in my ass.” It’s just that kind of movie and Gibson, chewing up the scenery every chance that he gets, coughing, spluttering through the action, is the clearcut highlight of an otherwise bumbling affair.
The other actors don’t fare as well. Bosworth’s character is almost useless to the whole thing, as if she’s only in the film because the producers decided to have an extra celeb name stamped on the movie’s poster. She’s underused and mostly there to tame Gibson’s character and complement Hirsch as his love interest. Meanwhile, Hirsch fails at playing good guy Officer Cardillo, mostly because he isn’t very believable in the role. Maybe casting an actual Latino in the role would have worked better? I’m just speculating.
Running at a tightly breezy 90 minutes, “Force of Nature” is hampered down by Cory Miller’s none-too-wise screenplay, which feels like a hybrid of “Die Hard,” and “Twister.” The film is loaded with bad jokes, clunky dialogue, and tonally inept storytelling. In fact, don’t be surprised if the film manages to build up a cult following in the coming years. Its amusingly derivative nature never had me bored or looking at my watch. As you watch this film you almost wonder if the joke’s really on us — do the actors know how bad the movie they’re in truly is?
Michael Polish, best known for directing well-reviewed indie films in the ’90s and early aughts (“Twin Falls Idaho” “Northfolk”), doesn’t hide the fact that his film is super silly. If anything, he expands on the silliness by going along with the joke, never attempting to upgrade his film into anything other than what he is. [WTF]