Movie Review ‘Force of Nature’: Mel Gibson at His Rude, Ornery Best

Late-period Mel Gibson is probably the best Mel Gibson; in film after film after film he plays ornery old bastards with such conviction that each successive outing feels like a personal trip to the confessional. He doesn’t need the money anymore, and most of these roles are in indie movies that pay very little anyway; he works because he still has something to say, and the main thing he seems to want to discuss is his own demons.

Force of Nature, a low-budget B-movie thriller just released via VOD, works best when Gibson is onscreen to rain belligerence on all comers but gradually disintegrates in its last act. As a strong hurricane bears down on San Juan, Puerto Rico, director Michael Polish skillfully sets up the various conflicts: There’s man against weather, cop against criminal, cop against his own conscience, and, just for fun, hints of a man-eating animal plus maybe a Nazi war criminal. Amid all of this chaos, though, only one element is truly scary: Mel Gibson in beast mode.

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Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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Late-period Mel Gibson is probably the best Mel Gibson; in film after film after film he plays ornery old bastards with such conviction that each successive outing feels like a personal trip to the confessional. He doesn’t need the money anymore, and most of these roles are in indie movies that pay very little anyway; he works because he still has something to say, and the main thing he seems to want to discuss is his own demons.

Force of Nature, a low-budget B-movie thriller just released via VOD, works best when Gibson is onscreen to rain belligerence on all comers but gradually disintegrates in its last act. As a strong hurricane bears down on San Juan, Puerto Rico, director Michael Polish skillfully sets up the various conflicts: There’s man against weather, cop against criminal, cop against his own conscience, and, just for fun, hints of a man-eating animal plus maybe a Nazi war criminal. Amid all of this chaos, though, only one element is truly scary: Mel Gibson in beast mode.