Mel Gibson as Fatman: Hollywood pariah’s weird revival in 2020

After a massive fall from grace, Mel Gibson has chosen the year of the pandemic to get back on top. It’s not quite working out.

Of course 2020 – a year that will be remembered as one of the most harrowing periods of modern history – turns out to be Mel Gibson’s renaissance.

With four projects slated for release, it’s the most active year the Oscar winner has had on the big screen since 2000 when he pumped out money-makers like What Women Want, The Patriot and Chicken Run.

Sure, his latest films may be dogged by negative reviews and might not pull in major profits but a revival doesn’t need to be successful in order to happen.

Action flick Force of Nature was panned upon release in June. Maybe the upcoming B action movie Boss Level (co-starring Naomi Watts) and action-thriller Last Looks will do better.

But it’s the upcoming dirty Christmas movie that’s really the jewel in the crown of Mel’s comeback year: Fatman. He plays the titular role.

What’s the synopsis of Fatman? It’s pretty complex, so pay attention: Mel Gibson plays a fat man.

OK, that’s not doing it justice. He plays a man named Chris Cringle – also known as Santa Claus – who partners with the US military to save his failing business. Then an assassin and a tween and a lump of coal is added into the mix.

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LISTEN TO THE NOT HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS PODCAST BELOW

I wonder if – when Mel studied at NIDA all those years ago and then won an Oscar for Braveheart – he ever thought that, in the second wind of his career, he’d be headlining a film named Fatman.

Personally, it’s just exciting to think that, in 15 years, Cate Blanchett could move into a similar phase.

Imagine sitting in a movie theatre and sipping a frozen Coke when a booming movie trailer voiceover thunders through the surround-sound speakers: “This summer, in cinemas everywhere, the world is about to shake. Cate Blanchett is … FATGIRL.”

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Mel’s revival might not have the critical acclaim to match his heyday but that doesn’t matter. He seems to have reached a point in his career where he just doesn’t care anymore.

And if you’re going to launch a career renaissance, now is the time to do it. The world’s a total disaster so, by comparison, past discrepancies are just ignored.

There was a time when Mel was a Hollywood pariah. He made a homophobic comment here, an anti-Semitic rant there. The occasional angry phone call to his ex-girlfriend with threatening and racist overtones. A restraining order and a DUI? Please, it’s all in a day’s work for Mel.

But as #MeToo ignited and Trump’s presidency spun out of control and police brutality spurred protests and we all bunkered down like mole people to avoid being wiped out by a plague, we just didn’t have time to keep snuffing out Mel’s attempts to come back as a box office drawcard.

We don’t agree with him and we still think he’s offensive, but right now we’re just treating him like a weird uncle who posts racist stuff on Facebook at 2am.

Besides, we’re distracted by a bigger villain this year: Ellen.

Role of a lifetime … Mel Gibson as Fatman. Picture: Saban Films

A LESSON WE ALL SHOULD’VE LEARNT BY NOW

It’s a tale as old as time. Boy goes on reality show to find fame and fortune. Boy behaves horrendously on reality show. Boy can’t believe reality producers would air footage of him behaving horrendously. Then boy goes into damage control and cries foul about being portrayed as a villain.

Firass Dirani is the latest casualty of the feared villain edit. The former Underbelly star is just one of the celebs who got tricked into signing up for Channel 7’s torture program SAS Australia and things haven’t really panned out the way he thought they might.

It’s honestly brilliant. All the celebs signed up to the show thinking they’re just going to have to do a few HIIT circuits while wearing army gear but instead they’re waterboarded and forced to discuss – in embarrassing detail – all their past tabloid scandals.

And because every reality show needs a villain, Firass has been blessed with the career-defining role.

Firass in the midst of an argument while zipped up in a sleeping bag.

He really hasn’t come off well in the footage that has aired. We’ve seen him talking back to the soldiers running the military course, getting his teammates in trouble and just having a generally bad attitude.

It got to the point this week where the inmates started turning on each other. Co-star Merrick Watts assembled the celebs and called for a show of hands to indicate who didn’t like Firass.

The appearance on this show was meant to kick start a second wind for his acting career but it has failed tremendously and actually makes Mel Gibson’s second wind as Fatman look like a triumph.

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