Mel Gibson’s recent off-camera troubles haven’t stopped him from pushing boundaries in the film industry. Becoming the first big movie star to skip theaters and roll the dice on the Video On Demand platform, Gibson and his Icon Productions have struck a deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for his newest film, Get The Gringo, to premiere on May 1st exclusively through DirecTV. Hit the jump to read the synopsis of Get The Gringo and to find out more about Gibson’s unorthodox distribution tactic.

Deadline has the report, citing Gibson’s predilection for thinking outside the box on previous films like The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto as the basis for this deal. Following a premiere hosted by Ain’t It Cool News’ Harry Knowles, DirecTV will be the only place available for audiences to see the movie for one month before it expands to other VOD platforms and Blu-ray. Subscribers will be able to watch it starting May 1st for $10.99, and the wider release is intended for sometime later this year.

Here’s Deadline’s rundown of the plot:

Get The Gringo is an R-rated fastball down the middle for Gibson fans. Directed by Adrian Grunberg from a script he wrote with Gibson, the film has action, dark humor and plenty of violence. Gibson plays Driver, who, during a high-speed car chase with the U.S. Border Patrol and a bleeding body in his back seat, crashes into the border wall as he tries to escape. He survives, only to be placed inside a hard-core Mexican prison where he enters the strange and dangerous world of “El Pueblito.” There, he finds unlikely survival guidance from a 10-year-old kid who shows him the ropes.

The movie was written by Gibson and first-time director Adrian Grunberg, who was Gibson’s first assistant director on Apocalypto. Check out the trailer below, and – as always – leave your thoughts in the comments section.

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Yesterday Warner Bros. and director Todd Phillips decided against having Mel Gibson appear in The Hangover 2 as some of the cast and crew were not happy with it. Now it has been reported that Bradley Cooper’s A-Team co-star Liam Neeson will take over Gibson’s role instead.

From Variety:

Neeson says he was invited to take the cameo role via his “A-Team” co-star Bradley Cooper, who stars in “The Hangover Part II” along with Zack Galifianakis.

“I just got a call to do a one day shoot on ‘Hangover 2′ as a tattooist in Thailand, and that’s all I know about it,” Neeson told Daily Variety. “I just laughed my leg off when I saw ‘The Hangover, I was shooting in Berlin earlier this year and rented it on the hotel TV.”

Neeson flew out to the set Thursday from his home in New York.

While small, the role will probably be a memorable one. After a rough year Gibson was hoping to turn public opinion around in a similar way Tom Cruise did with his cameo in Tropic Thunder. Neeson will be the actor getting all the glory now, which i’m happy about as Liam Neeson kicks ass.

The Hangover 2 will be released next May and follows Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms as they venture to Thailand.

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There was wide speculation across the internet recently that Mel Gibson would be appearing in The Hangover 2 as a tattoo artist. The actor has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons this year, so a cameo in a successful comedy could help turn public opinion around.

Unfortunately for Mel his cameo won’t be taking place, as some members of the cast and crew weren’t happy with the idea.

Director Todd Phillips released a short statement on the matter:

“I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew.”

A few days ago Zach Galifianakis appeared on the Comedy Death-Ray Radio podcast where he mentioned he was in “deep protest” about something, which now looks like the involvement of Mr. Gibson.

From Vulture:

After explaining to host Scott Aukerman that he’s turned down several projects on moral grounds, Galifianakis said, “But a movie you’re acting in, you don’t have a lot of control — you just show up and vomit your lines out. I’m not the boss. I’m in a deep protest right now with a movie I’m working on, up in arms about something. But I can’t get the guys to [listen] … I’m not making any leeway.” Galifianakis cut Aukerman off with an abrupt warning sound as the host began to mention the film’s title, but after Aukerman pressed, “I know you’re filming The Hhhhhhhh … ” Galifianakis admitted, “It has something to do with a movie I’m working on, yeah. I’ll tell you about it later. It’s very frustrating.”

I guess Galifianakis finally got people to listen.

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Mel Gibson is a man made for vengeance. If you wrong him, he will mess you up. We haven’t seen him make good on this since The Patriot (1999) when he won the American revolution because some British guy killed his family. Since that time, the troubled actor has been distracted by Jesus, alcohol, and Jews. Edge of Darkness promises a return to classic Gibson, which is something to celebrate. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it.

I really want to like Edge of Darkness. The trailer reminds me of Taken and the film is directed by Martin Cambell, who is best known for saving the James Bond franchise twice (Casino Royale, GoldenEye). And like State of Play, one of my favorite films of 2009, Edge of Darkness is based on a critically acclaimed BBC miniseries, which was also directed by Cambell. The signs for a great mystery action thriller are in place. Regrettably, Cambell and the writing team failed to modernize and translate the material to the big screen.

The plot follows Thomas Craven (Gibson), a cop and single father, estranged from his twenty-something daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic). She shows up at his door, very sick. As they’re the house for the emergency room, she is suddenly and horridly blown back about five feet by a shotgun, point blank (Hollywood physics). Craven is spared, and Emma dies of shock in his arms. The sequence happens crazy fast brutal and we just know it will drive Craven over the ‘edge.’ He’s gonna go Rambo, right? Well, no, not really.

He calmly investigates Emma’s death. Soon, he begins to hear her voice and daydream about her as a little girl. He’s heartbroken. I sympathize with Craven, but Cambell never solidifies the connection between him and his daughter. We see them next to each other, but never together.

After its opening moments, the film loses its way. Cambell and the two writers (William Monahan and Andrew Bovell) can’t decide what type of film they want to make. Do they want Gibson on a ruthless hunt for action, explosions, and vengeance? Perhaps a complicated political murder-mystery is a better way to go? Or maybe a drama centered around the psychological toll losing a daughter would take on a father?

Cambell and company decide to try all three. As a result, Edge of Darkness is schizophrenic. It’s a chilling I’m-seeing-dead-people personal drama one minute, a convoluted 80s Nuclear murder-mystery the next, and occasionally shoots from 0 to 100 and shocks us with an amazing, short action sequence. One such sequence was so freakishly intense that I actually came down with a headache for a moment. (Identity had a similar sequence.) If I were older with heart problems who knows what could have happened. When Cambell decides it’s time for action, get ready.

Unfortunately, the majority of screen time is spent on the hokey murder-mystery. I say hokey because it’s the kind of story a two-part MacGyver episode would run in the 80s, except Macgyver would be more fun because he finds creative solutions to every problem. He also has a killer mullet. What a guy.

It turns out Emma was targeted by the top secret, government funded research facility where she worked. This is obvious about 30 minutes in when Craven meets with the head of the facility, Jack Bennet, played by Danny Huston. Huston never got the memo that he isn’t still Col. William Stryker from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Bennet is an arrogant ass to Craven, asking the grieving man “how does it feel?” in a cold tone. He doesn’t deny that the facility is developing weapons and doesn’t care to discuss Emma’s death. He’s probably distracted, still trying to figure out how best to infuse adamantium into Hugh Jackman’s bones.

Most everyone Craven talks to share the same qualities: they overact, are easy to read, and withhold information for no reason. It’s like they get off on being withholding (like Lucille). It’s the kind of thing that only happens in the movies. Essentially, we’re dragged to see a ton of useless characters talking about nonsense things using overly complex words until we just don’t care anymore. We’re sitting through these immense filler scenes hoping that Gibson will hit the “edge of darkness” and start kicking ass. You know, get some street justice. He rarely does. Mostly, he’s just sad.

Edge of Darkness is like a game of Clue where everyone knows who did it but has to play through the entire game anyway. The mystery is hokey and Craven’s hallucinations are overdone. I could have put up with these faults, but there was too little action to pad them.

Score: 2 out of 5

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Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to witness the return of Mel Gibson. The last time we saw him he was running around crop fields with aliens, and has since made that Jesus movie and Apocalypto. Now he’s back in front of the camera, and he’s going after Col. William Stryker. There’s no magic adamantium bullets in this film though, just your regular ones that kill the male leads daughter.

Edge of Darkness is directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) and co-stars Ray Winstone and Danny Huston. Mel will be back on the big screen next January.

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