The Mercy (2018)

REVIEW - THE MERCYI will admit this was not the usual film I would watch, but honestly to get away from the Marvel and DC universe I had to try something else, something different, something simpler, so.........Based on a true story Colin Firth is excellent in this story of the first man to circumnavigate the world alone in a sailing boat, or was he? (no spoilers).The exceptional part of this film for me was the story being told at home, the effects the fathers absence had on the family. Many films concentrate on the story arch of the main character and forget the other story which should be told equally but through the eyes of those being effected by the main character, this film does just that.Charming, intelligent British made film which is enjoyable to watch, excellent for a Sunday afternoon or mid-week evening, regardless if you like to sail or not.Set in 1968 - 1969 the stand out moment for me was the speech given by the mother on her doorstep to the assembled press, still relevant today!One issue I have, not with this film but with British firms in general is the very limited showing, films only being shown in certain cinemas for a few days even though being advertised and promoted, why?Making a film is expensive so I personally would have thought the idea of having it shown in all cinemas and for more than just one or two days would be a necessity for the studio to get its money back or even make a profit, but for some reason with British films this doesn't seem the case. 2 other British films that recently also have also fallen into this category, 'Ghost Stories and Cargo', both films I missed while on at a very limited cinema release for less than a week each!Rating 7 out of 10

And sure was released for public viewing over couple of days, then the DVD release will be directly thrown into the $1.00 bin in Wal-mart. Making this kind of film really needed some investors not focused on making money but just want to shoot a picture with good story. But this film only achieved half of it for the family outing part before this guy decided to challenge himself to a solo voyage around the globe. Some reviewers have mentioned couple of similar films related to sail in the ocean and lost. What came into my mind is the pathetic movie, "All is Lost (2013)" by Robert Redford. The problem of both films was when these two guys on the land, things around them in their daily lives could be witnessed and remembered by the people around them, once they started on their solo voyage at the early stage, we could still got the record when they communicated with the concerned and related parties on land, but once they suddenly lost contact, all the on-going situations would have to be dramatized by fictitious guessing. The mind set of those adventurers are just a bit different from the normal guys like most of us. Adventurers would challenge themselves and the Mother Nature. Climbing the highest Everest, diving into the deep sea...whatever, they just want to prove that they could beat the odds. But even you've conquered the summit, or what ever, what's the big deal, really? Even you've survived in the end, or breaking a world new record, what's the big deal? One person's achievement won't change the course of the orbit of the Earth, sun still going up on the East...people around you still fart, you still have to report you income tax, pay the utilities bills...nothing ever changed a bit. There were dreamers like what we saw in "The Man Who Would be King (1975)", but even that guy really succeeded, the other part of the world won't even heard about it. So, if you decided to leave your wife and kids behind, trying to prove you got some new toughness or stubbornness that enabled you to do some solo stunt on the sea, "Bon Voyage!" is like your stupid praying to God, nothing but a "Good Luck!" Wishful Thinking.

A heart wants what it wants. It's the end of the 1960's, and this solid family man (Colin Firth) wants to take his Sunday hobby of sailing to the ultimate level, designing his own boat and travelling around the world in six months - alone, as part of the contest.Also starring, Rachel Weisz as the man's wife, David Thewlis, and, well, a whole lot of ocean. Based on a true story, by the way.The central part of "The Mercy" is watching Firth's character Donald Crowhurst defying dangers and both physical and psychological hardships of sailing the ocean, having to rely only on his hands, wits and hope that nothing critical breaks down because the contest won't allow making stops or having breaks during the world travelling tour.A worn-down man sulking on a boat in the middle of nowhere might seem like a boring idea for a feature-length movie, but somehow the authors have managed to get it right, so it turns out to be quite a gripping.What was essentially a exhausting and monotonous journey where the main activities were shovelling out the water and trying to keep the whole thing from drowning, is enriched by portraying the gradual mental eroding of Crowhurst.Colin Firth is known as versatile actor and you can bet your sweet bottom that he does a wonderful job at conveying the depression, loneliness, exhaustion and general distress of his character, so he is able to command our attention whenever he's on screen.And all that is his usual reserved and delicate way, living the character, not acting it.It's easily an awards worthy performance although at this time it's way too early to predict his chances of getting an Oscar nomination.The same goes, by the way, to Rachel Weisz who has created a a surprisingly soulful and charming supporting role from what surely must have been a mostly decorative one on paper.She does not have much screen time actually, but it gets compensated by a powerful speech in the end. A true Oscar moment, as they would say.Parallel to Crowhurst's journey, we see bits from the life of people who wait for his return, including the family - but also his promoter trying to earn him some money for the expensive trip that threatens to bankrupt the whole family.This turns out to be the movie's weakness which, while not quite ruining the dramatic impact of the whole thing, does not actually expand or strengthen the main story in a meaningful way.It's okay in short doses - if only for variety's sake - but its emotional "nutritive value" falls flat compared to what's happening on the sea.The director James Marsh's previous project, "The Theory of Everything", suffers from the same deficiency. It's pretty and watchable but he should have trimmed the final act.That's all I wanted to say about this one. "The Mercy" is pretty good but its shallower side holds it back a notch. I am happy to have seen it but it will not linger on memory for long. Although I did like the deeper message that with grandiose plans comes a danger of falling into prison of one's own ego.We have seen many instances of at least two similar-themed movies released in the same period of time. It also happens here, with "The Mercy" preceded by premiere of "Crowhurst" by almost five months, although the latter got a proper cinema release in the U.K. a few weeks later.

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