★★★☆☆

13 December 2017

​A movie review of ​THE MERCY.

By Hemanth Kissoon

“Take your dreams out to sea,” Rodney Hallworth (David Thewlis)
 
For all the creative talent behind and in front of the camera, THE MERCY has turned out to be a mediocre affair wasting psychological promise. What compels people to fabricate their skill set? The film starts to ask that question, but does not delve. I am not talking about a party where you feel out of your depth - for such social setting movies see POWDER ROOM and THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. Self-aggrandisement due to insecurity is comprehensible. THE MERCY is in a darker subgenre. Characters are jaw-droppingly out of their depth, lying to maintain a façade, and the repercussions are life-altering (e.g. SHATTERED GLASS and THE INFORMANT! the latter also by writer Scott Z. Burns).
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​Based on a true story, in 1968 The Sunday Times newspaper created the Golden Globe Race. Two £5000 prizes were offered to:
1. The first person to sail around the world single-handed without stopping on land, and
2. The fastest person to do so.
Beyond the dangers of the oceans, nine months at sea alone is a daunting task. Sir Francis Chichester (Simon McBurney) was the first to sail around the world stopping once. THE MERCY does not make clear why The Sunday Times feels now is the moment when they think it might be achieved. Has there been a breakthrough in boat building? Have new seafaring techniques been discovered? Like so much of the movie, interesting context is not offered. Too much of the runtime feels padded with the repetitive.
 
Director James Marsh’s early work is far superior to his latest projects. Exciting documentary MAN ON WIRE (2008) and disturbing narrative feature THE KING (2005) are in sharp contrast to TV-movies-of-the-week THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (2014) and similarly THE MERCY. The sea scenes are not grand. We are not in LIFE OF PI or WATERWORLD territory where we feel the overwhelming isolation. There are some perfunctory whale and dolphin shots. What saves THE MERCY is the always-reliable Colin Firth. He is that rarity, a class act, both in front and behind the camera. He is not talked about enough as a producer. Seek out socially conscious works: IN PRISON MY WHOLE LIFE (2007), EYE IN THE SKY (2015) and LOVING (2016).

​Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth) is an inventor and entrepreneur. It turns out he and his company are not very financially successful. We find this out later on in the story. At which point we realise he is almost a charlatan. Though, Firth portrays Crowhurst as naïve with an inflated opinion of his own abilities. He throws his hat into The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. We come to realise his only experience is as a weekend sailor.
 
The interesting trick the film pulls is having the audience believe he might be an undiscovered sailing savant. The rug is pulled from under the viewer. While it has us metaphorically lying on our backs, THE MERCY would have benefitted from building on its narrative structure. Once on the journey, we see a little of the recent past interspersed. However, where is the analysis of Crowhurst’s personality? What might have formulated him? Is it merely male ego and insecurity leading to such folly? The film needed to examine his ambition and restlessness.
 
Not helping matters is Rachel Weisz in a thankless part. Too many period dramas have the female actors merely as the worried/supportive spouse. Contrast Katherine Waterston in one of 2017’s best films, THE CURRENT WAR. THE MERCY also forgoes looking at the aftermath for Crowhurst’s children and any grandkids. Not only that, what of The Sunday Times and its then editor (Mark Gatiss)? The newspaper does not verify the reports from Crowhurst’s press agent, Rodney Hallworth (David Thewlis). Is it the over-trustfulness of the era or lazy journalism?
 
THE MERCY squanders its potential.