File this one under “unexpected”. BLOOD FATHER is billed as a Mel Gibson-fronted attempt to do a variation on TAKEN. So far, so routine. But news that respected character actor William H. Macy has joined the cast takes my interest up a notch. What makes it smash its head through the skylight is that Macy is on Twitter and recently posted a snap of himself with a decidedly-grizzled-looking Gibson from the set…
@WilliamHMacy: Here’s me and Mel. The film is called BLOOD FATHER. He’a great in our scenes.
Typo aside, this looks like it could be worth catching. A heated tale of family reconciliation and drug dealers, the film is directed by MESRINE’s Jean Francois-Richet and written by Peter Craig (THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY), who’s adapted his own novel. So expect hard-boiled characterization with some strong performances. David Mamet collaborator Macy became a champion of independent cinema, rising to prominence in FARGO. He sent up his own image getting beaten up on public access television by bullies in The Simpsons. Gibson too appears to be going the self-referential route, having filmed a cameo in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD and appearing alongside other Eighties action men (and Kelsey Grammer) in THE EXPENDABLES 3.
Macy took the transatlantic baton from our own David Threlfall in Shameless USA, but has made his big screen directorial debut with RUDDERLESS, co-starring his wife Felicity Huffman and Selena Gomez. BLOOD FATHER is currently shooting.
Source: Deadline
