The Mercy (2017) Reviews

• Another biopic that sacrifices analysis of character for emotional tension.

  jake-young962018-05-15

  Colin Firth takes lead in this incredible story based on true events of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst's attempt to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly on his self-designed trimaran, as part of the Sunday Times Golden Globe race. Under the pressure of a publicity agent hyping his story to exceeding proportions, expecting sponsors and the self-applied noose of possible debt should he not finish the race, mounts the struggle of Donald Crowhurst to the highest proportions. Giving this movie its backbone is the heavy emotional weight throughout, director James Marsh turns an otherwise quite controversial person and event into a sympathetic and quite touching story. It's a story that today needs to be told more, one of the pressures that men face and their inability to talk out about them. It's this coupled with the terrific pacing and structure of The Mercy that allows the audience to connect to Donald Crowhurst, as a dreamer and as somebody who had misfortunes that he was unable to deal with alone. It's only reinforced by the excellent performances given by Rachel Weisz and Colin Firth, that add a much-needed soulful and human touch to the film and grounding it for the audience, whereas a misplaced casting choice might have resulted in a far less captivating story. However, while the story is one that is sure to hold a sympathetic gaze, what the film fails to achieve and execute properly is demonstrating how truly isolated and consumed with pressure Donald Crowhurst was. The film needed more time, this would have allowed further scenes of Donald on the boat so that much like The Life of Pi or even Castaway the audience could have tapped into that isolation. Instead, the film edits back and forth the boat and Crowhurst's family, this does, of course, keep the emotional tension high but dramatically it is weak, never buying into Crowhurst's isolated madness it puts the film on a weak footing. This might not have been a huge issue if the story's focal point was elsewhere but it's not, the most crucial part of the story is the pressure and isolation that Donald faced on the boat, it sacrifices a highly layered look into Donald Crowhurst for its emotional tension. The film needed less time reinforcing emotional backdrop and more time heightening the dramatic point of the story. The Mercy is a film that depending on what you came to see, you will enjoy it more or less. The emotional backdrop is orchestrated perfectly, never missing a beat and tapping the audience into the supportive and hearty theme but the dramatic focal point of the film is underplayed and does not do much in the way of aiding the audience in its comprehending of Donald Crowhurst.

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• Why watch the dramatisation when you can see the real story?

  fm-953-4633452018-06-05

  Watch the doco on the man and the race here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/reference. Way better than this. This really captures nothing of what it is like to be on the water alone. It is interesting we idolise the failure when the heroes in the race are so amazing. I feel sorry for the man, but what a crazy undertaking to take with so little experience. No one is really capturing what the real people are like. The doco is amazing. I've watched so many times because the characters themselves are so incredibly different in themselves. FYI, in this first race, it took about 9-10 months. Today, the record is shy of 43 days. This is usually contested every 4 years with the Vendee Globe, but there are always independent challenges. Truly amazing.

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• A sad tale slowly told

  iantrader2018-06-05

  It's easy to see what attracted Firth, Weisz, Thewlis et al to the movie. It is very 1960s and it captures the period well. It's also a very interesting tale. The main problem probably lies with the direction or possible the editing. Many scenes are drawn out to the point where you want to reach for the Fast Forward button. They're aiming for tension and suspense but it just doesn't work and makes viewing tedious. Another problem is that once you've got the gist of the story, most of the subsequent events are a repetition of what's gone before so you've both repetition and tediousness. Okay, it's not quite as bad as that might make it sound and the actors elevate it to watchable status. If you like tales of the sea or the actors, give it a whirl but you won't be missing much if you decide not to.

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• I didn't know the real-life story and I'm glad I didn't; it's a well-told, surprisingly moving bio-pic.

  Pjtaylor-96-1380442018-02-10

  Though it is highly speculative and certain implications it heavily makes may be either irresponsible or insensitive because of this, 'The Mercy (2018)' has the advantage of an interesting mystery that affords a certain dramatic license simply because of the perspective it portrays. It represents a rather captivating and ultimately quite tragic tale of man vs wild and, perhaps more acutely, man vs both our inner demons as well as those of the ones we leave by the shore. I didn't know the real-life story and I'm glad I didn't, because it certainly goes in ways I didn't expect. The pacey first act is fast, fluid and fantastically well-told, even if its montage style is sometimes slightly tiring, but the picture always knows when to drop its anchor so that the slower moments can hammer home the rather blind-siding sad soul at the heart of this surprisingly moving flick. 7/10

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• The Moving Mercy

  TheLittleSongbird2018-04-24

  With such an incredible story that is incredibly emotional and inspiring, a trailer that really grabbed the attention and made me really want to see it and a very good cast (Colin Firth, David Thewlis, Rachel Weisz), 'The Mercy' had a lot in its favour and a lot going for it. So the potential in it being a good film was enormous. On the most part, 'The Mercy' is a good, very good even, film, its best elements brilliant. Mostly it does justice to this astonishing story if not quite fully and does a lot right. It does live up to its trailer and the cast are far from wasted. 'The Mercy' also is not quite perfect and could have been even better than it was. Nothing is done terribly, far from it, there are a few elements though that could have been done stronger. Where 'The Mercy' most excels is the acting and emotional impact. It is a very moving film (there are scenes where a couple of tissues is in order) with a rootable protagonist, presented as compellingly real and not neatly black and white. There are gripping and tense scenes on the sea, it really is an emotional story with a soul, and its restraint rather than going into overblown mode was really appreciated. Found myself inspired by it too. Colin Firth wrenches the gut and brings tears to the eye in a powerful performance. Rachel Weisz's role was a little underwritten, but she is charming and affecting with her most emotive dialogue ringing true. Also found David Thewlis brilliantly cast. 'The Mercy' is exquisitely filmed with the use of locations well done, the sea is like a character of its own, likewise with the boat. The music is haunting and understated and it's all slickly directed and thoughtfully scripted. The film doesn't feel dull generally with a fluidly and fast paced first act with particularly compelling storytelling. However, 'The Mercy' is not without issues. Not everybody is going to take kindly to some of the speculation and not so sensitive assumptions, particularly in the latter stages. The final act is not as strong as the rest of film, it's emotionally captivating but not as tightly paced, as dimensional, as detailed and not all of it felt resolved. Sometimes the non-on the sea scenes could have been more developed and Weisz's character is underwritten and not as well used as she could have been (as said Weisz's performance is great having said that). Overall, good film and nearly great, with a few tweaks it would have been the latter. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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