Hacksaw Ridge should be Mel Gibson’s redemption and Oscar winner

AN OSCAR for Mel Gibson’s new war drama could be his ticket back to the hit list after a decade as a pariah.

FORGET the Melbourne Cup. Put your house on Mel Gibson winning an Oscar next February. He’s a special.

It’s been 10 years since Mad Mel went whacko in the back seat of a police car in Malibu. Since then his career has gone the way of Donald Trump’s hair — not technically dead, but so close it doesn’t matter.

Until now. Mel has a new movie out and the buzz is beyond good. It’s the story of a young man who becomes a pariah because of his unpopular religious beliefs but remains true to his convictions and finally wins over his critics, earning redemption and universal admiration.

Apparently Mel was going to call it A Metaphor For My Life, but went for Hacksaw Ridge instead.

Mel Gibson, centre, and actor Vince Vaughn on the set of Hacksaw Ridge.

Wisely, after the tepid response to his post-meltdown acting gigs Kill The Gringo and Blood Father, Mel has remained behind the camera for the film that was shot in Sydney and opens in Brisbane this week. He relies instead on the directorial touch that earned him two Oscars for Braveheart 20 years ago and half a billion bucks for The Passion of The Christ in 2004. Back then, he didn’t just “own Malibu” as he slurred to arresting officers after one double tequila too many on that fateful night in 2006, he owned Hollywood. With a lifetime gross box office of over $2.7 billion in the US domestic market alone, he was the studios’ golden boy. He could do nothing wrong.

Well, maybe one thing.

In Hollywood Babylon, the best-selling book that chronicled the dark, hidden secrets of early Tinseltown, author Kenneth Anger made it clear that as long as actors kept the cash registers going ka-ching, they could get away with just about anything. But there was one unwritten law. In an industry founded and run by Jewish immigrants with names such as Mayer, Goldwyn, Warner, Zanuck, and Cohn, and which continued to prosper under the watchful eyes of the likes of Eisner, Roth, Ovitz and Redstone, even a hint of anti-Semitism was not a good career move.

Gibson at the Hacksaw Ridge premiere in Beverly Hills. Pic: Getty Images

Marlon Brando gave more than a hint in 1996 when he told Larry King that while it was open slather on other races, the studios were soft on their stereotypical portrayal of Jews. Following public outcry and a Mel Gibson-like fall from grace, Brando tried everything to make amends, including a tearful three-hour meeting with a group of influential rabbis, but with little effect. He made just three more films – all clunkers – before dying eight years later.

Mel has gone a different route, speaking sparingly about the drunken rant in which he claimed, “the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world”. Until now. It seems that in every interview he has given to promote Hacksaw Ridge, he has made his case for readmission into the Hollywood inner-circle.

“I’ve worked on myself a lot,” he’s said. “I’ve made my apologies. I’ve moved on.”

And the signs are that Hollywood has too. Hacksaw Ridge received a 10-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival and what better way to welcome back the prodigal son than with a Redemption Oscar?

Better get started on your speech Mel. Keep it short and clean … and lay off the tequila.

Originally published as Hacksaw Ridge should be Mel Gibson’s redemption and Oscar winner