Thursday, January 23, 2025

Trump Hollywood Ambassador Mel Gibson’s Latest Film, “Flight Risk,” Severely Panned by Critics

As you know, Donald Trump says Mel Gibson must be addressed as “ambassador” now.

Well, Ambassador Gibson’s new movie, called “Flight Risk,” is a dud. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 26% rotten splat.

Gibson wrote, directed, and stars in this piece of junk which also stars Mark Wahlberg.

Critics who’ve seen “Flight Risk” have been unsparing in their dismissal of it.

Variety says: “If one is compelled to inextricably correlate the art and the artist, there are any number of reasons for viewers to avoid new work from Mel Gibson. But the strongest in this particular case is that it’s artistically bereft — devoid of suspense, style or even a rudimentary mastery of technique.”

Reviewer Todd Gilchrist adds: “What [Gibson] delivers is a crude, unimaginative, suspenseless adventure whose tension mostly derives from deciding which of its three main characters will prove the most unlikable by the time it ends.”

I’m sorry to learn that two very good actors — Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace — find themselves mired in this misery. There must be better projects for them.

Lionsgate is dumping this morass into 3,000 theaters this weekend. We’ll be seeing it on airplanes by the end of February — and ignoring it.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

Read more

In Other News