[click to enlarge]John Link (Mel Gibson – yes, that’s Mel Gibson riding that motorcycle) is an ex-convict who is now on parole and makes a meager living as a tattoo artist out of his trailer in Indio, California, when he gets a call from his estranged 17-year-old daughter Lydia (Erin Moriarty) whom he has not seen in years. Lydia grew up with her mother and several husbands. As a teenager she ran away from home and got involved with the drug cartel. John Link, however, is her “blood father” and when she comes to him for help, he is willing to risk everything, his parole, even his life, to get her out of the bind she is in.
Blood Father is a piece of fast action pulp fiction, reminiscent of Gibson’s famous Mad Max movies. Getting young innocent girls, or in this case, not so innocent girls, out of trouble is a surefire recipe for a successful movie. Just watch Liam Neeson in Taken or Kevin Kline in Trade to get a feeling for the sub-genre. Dads saving their girls speaks to all dads. Dads would do anything to save their girls. That’s just nature.
