On a few occasions, “Edge of Darkness” shows glimpses of greatness. Unfortunately, they’re muddied with over-the-top performances and some really, really bad Boston accents. One word can describe this Mel Gibson thriller: uneven. “Edge of Darkness” meanders between the realms of corporate suspense and shoot-’em-up revenge flicks with a handful of cute father-daughter flashbacks.

Gibson plays Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven. In the film’s opening, he picks up his shy 24-year-old daughter Emma (played by Bojana Novakovic) from the airport. Thomas immediately knows something is wrong when his daughter starts vomiting outside of his car, but she insists she just has a bug. Once they’re home, Emma’s health becomes worse and she admits something is up. But before Emma can share her secret, a man in a ski mask drives by and shoots her.

Armed with experience and superior skills, Craven vows to find his daughter’s killer on his own terms. Both Craven and the Boston P.D. think the killer was targeting Craven and accidentally shot Emma instead. But Craven changes his tune after going through Emma’s cell phone contacts and finding a gun in her nightstand drawer. Now Craven knows why she never talked about her new job.

As Craven digs deeper, a lot of characters come out of the woodwork: activists, defense contractors, political officials and several hired goons.

Gibson actually turns in a good performance as the wily, hardened detective. His vengeful anger and loving flashbacks all appear sentimental.

However, I can’t say the rest of the cast is any good. The worst offender is Danny Huston, who plays Jack Bennett, the head of the nuclear energy company that employed Emma. There are several actors that contribute pretty much nothing to a role. Huston actually devalues this film. He appears to read lines throughout the entire film except for in the two scenes his character is in danger. In those scenes, he plays extremely over-the-top. How does this guy keep getting work?

Another disappointing portrayal comes from Ray Winstone, who plays Jedburgh, an English “consultant” who’s brought in to clean up the mess Craven’s making. Gibson and Winstone do nothing but grumble inaudible questions to each other whenever they’re together. I wholeheartedly believe his character appears on screen only to confuse the audience.

There’s another word to describe this Mel Gibson thriller: confused. Not only is director Martin Campbell confused about what he wants the film to be (corporate whodunit, revenge flick, etc.), but he confuses these genre shifts for plot twists. It’s never a surprise that Bennett’s company makes nuclear weapons or that he’s in cahoots with a Massachusetts senator. And other than an out-of-nowhere car crash and a couple of confrontations, there’s little action in “Edge of Darkness.”

This movie could have been much better, but considering it’s January and it’s Mel Gibson’s first film in seven years, you could do a lot worse.