Originally posted Thursday, July 4, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Where's "Waldo"? In Atlanta - with Mel Gibson.
And no, it's not that Waldo. It's the name of an action-thriller film led by Charlie Hunnam of "Sons of Anarchy" fame. Hunnam plays a disgraced LAPD detective who has moved out into the woods and has lived off the grid for three years. But a former lover convinces him to get back in the game to solve the murder of an eccentric celebrity's wife.
Gibson’s character name is Alistair Pinch but it’s unclear what his role exactly is. Morena Baccarin of “Deadpool” fame is also in the movie.
This is the first film Gibson has ever done in metro Atlanta.
Gibson, now 63, has eased himself back into Hollywood’s graces after his 2006 DUI arrest where he went on an anti-Semitic rant that was leaked to the public. Interviews and stories then circulated of past sexist and anti-Semitic remarks Gibson had made. Then in 2010, he plead no contest to hitting the mother of his child so hard, he broke her teeth. Audio of an argument between the two also came out.
Several of his acting and film projects dried up as Hollywood effectively boycotted him.
But time works wonders on people’s memories. He stayed under the radar and gradually worked his way back into the good graces of production companies. Gibson was first nominated for best director in 2017 for “Hacksaw Ridge.”
Later that year, he played a rascally father to Mark Wahlberg's character in the comedy "Daddy's Home 2." Despite so-so reviews, the film grossed $180 million worldwide.
This year, Gibson starred in a limited release film with Sean Penn called "The Professor and the Madman." He also received critical plaudits for his role in the drama "Dragged Across Concrete," which came out in limited release in the spring and also starred Vince Vaughn.
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