Mel Gibson Month: Lethal Weapon
So last year I did Jeff Bridges Week, which was fairly unsuccessful because two of the five or so entries ended up being Asian films that did not feature Jeff Bridges, but since I couldn’t find any more Jeff Bridges films, I was stuck with Oldboy and Red Sorghum.
Because the availability of Mel Gibson’s films online is about as significant as his insanity, I think I have enough films to pull off a month of his shenanigans.
Let’s start with his Christmas-Ass-Kicking film, Lethal Weapon, the apparent trope codifier for the buddy-cop genre.
Look at those two motherfuckers. They’re actually really good in this film, but it’s a case of Seinfeld is Unfunny.
Let’s be fair - the hammed up saxophone is a little ridiculous, even in the context of the film, but a lot of the corny buddy-cop things (A LOOSE CANNON MEETS A VETERAN BY-THE-BOOK OFFICER) are a bit more endearing when you recognize the context of the film in history.
Nevertheless, I’m fairly convinced that Mel Gibson, throughout the film, including his near-suicide and bat-shit insane violence, was not acting. I mean, you definitely see shades of his future insanity. His character, Martin Riggs, frequently calls Roger Murtaugh (Glover) nicknames based on Native America chiefs, presumably to sarcastically reference his authority. He later calls his Asian torturer a “chin.”
His insanity lies not really in the racism, but his death-seeking actions in light of his dead wife or some shit. I don’t really remember because I watched half of this movie on Thanksgiving and the other half a week or so later. All I remember is that in the opening scene, Riggs is naked and drinks beer for breakfast. In his next scene, he nearly blows his brains out with a hollow point bullet. I think two scenes later he is again about to shoot himself in the face.
While we’re on the subject of crazy, let’s talk about Mr. Joshua, the primary antagonist’s second-in-command, portrayed by Gary Busey. I don’t know a whole lot about Gary Busey’s career before this film, but I’m going to assume that, like the film itself, everything he did wasn’t going to be apparently obvious from the get-go.
Our generation knows Gary Busey as fucking insane. In his first scene, he burns his arm with a lighter at command and barely flinches. I’m guessing that he isn’t really acting all that much either. I get the feeling that Danny Glover was frequently uncomfortable with working along side such clearly fucking nuts people.
Danny Glover’s just an old guy. His first scene is a little weird because he’s sitting his bath tub completely naked, but his wife and three kids walk in, wish him happy birthday and hug and kiss him. Also his teenage daughter tries to flirt with Riggs, who is like fifteen years older than her.
The villain’s forgettable. Some kind of former black ops guy who wants to sell heroin - that part really isn’t that important to be honest.
There are some moments of implausible combat skills by Riggs, and the ending scene fully shatters suspension of disbelief, but for the classic buddy-cop film, it really isn’t all that bad. Although, to be fair, a lot of moments go off the rails in terms of believing what’s going on. Most of the investigation throughout the film wouldn’t really fly and would likely get both guys fired, considering all the people they kill and all the shooting that happens. Whatever.
Also, there are titties in this film.
Merry Christmas everybody.
