Watch The Mercy For Free

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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

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.

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.

I had the privilege of seeing this film during a sneak peek, a week before it opened in Germany, and was pleasantly surprised. It follows the true story, sometimes only as well as we can guess, of the late Donald Crowhurst and his ill-fated sail-boat voyage around the world without stopping. I went in with no prior knowledge of the film whatsoever, and this is the preferred state in which one wants to be in, if one wants to appreciate or enjoy this film. It starts slow. And it is, over all, a very slow movie. If you prefer quickly-paced films with action, or even quick-witted dramas with lightning-fast wit packed into every line, then this is not your movie. This is a movie for the bored. Perhaps for the people with time to spare and a hankering for show-stopping but, in the end, unsatisfying acting. Overall, this movie is unsatisfying. Not because of the production. Not because of the acting. Not because of the music or the directing. All of those attributes are artfully executed. The film leaves one hanging, with no flavor left on the tongue, because of the true story on which it is based. Crowhurst commits suicide and the family is left in the lurch. It is displayed to us sympathetically, but not satisfyingly. It is shown to us with reasons and circumstances evenly conveyed. It is performed sublimely, all actors concerned, but still not cathartically. It is difficult to ascribe the perfect adjectives to this film, and it's harder to form the perfect judgment. Which was obviously the problem the filmmakers had when making this movie. We are left hanging. Not in the plot, not in the story, not even emotionally, but we are left hanging on the verdict. What was this film about? What was the meaning? What is the Mercy? I suppose when looking at events that actually happened, it is difficult to attach perfect meaning, even a perfect structure. But that's what a movie is supposed to do. I certainly didn't pay for a ticket to have a question put before me, not answered but told, in empty words, that I received an answer. Judge for yourselves, but to me this movie was a tasteless wafer of the highest quality, handcrafted with excellence, but in the end, terribly stale.