10 Worst Performances In Otherwise Awesome 2016 Movies

We’ve already reluctantly mentioned Mel Gibson’s talents as a director with Hacksaw Ridge. Begrudgingly, his latest actorly outing Blood Father proves that he’s a pretty good actor too.

It’s a fairly standard but above average vengeance action flick in which Gibson stars as grizzled old ex-con John Link who reconnects with his estranged wayward daughter Lydia after she finds herself in a spot of trouble and ends up with a Mexican drug cartel hot on her trail.

Gibson is great, no doubt because his character – a recovering alcoholic on the path to redemption – bears more than a few similarities with his real-life persona. Blood Father’s supporting cast, including William H. Macy as Gibson’s AA sponsor and Michael Parks as his friend and former biker, put in excellent performances too.

His co-star Erin Moriarty, however, is rather wooden and whiny in her performance as Gibson’s prodigal daughter. Maybe it’s a case of being outshone by the rest of Blood Father’s cast, or maybe it’s because screenwriters Peter Craig and Andrea Berloff paint her as a clichéd, cookie-cutter version of a good girl gone bad.

Whatever the reason, Moriarty’s performance as Lydia is annoying, unlikeable and difficult to sympathise with. After a few scenes with her character, you’re practically willing the Mexican gangsters hunting her down would just get their arses into gear and off her.