British Actress Blog

The Mercy (2018)

Score: 7/10

Director: James Marsh

Stars: Rachel Weisz, Colin Firth, David Thewlis.

The Mercy

Rachel Weisz

Synopsis: A amateur sailor makes his solo attempt to circumnavigate the globe while his family awaits his return.

Review: An entrepreneur named Donald Crowhurst ( Colin Firth ) enters a competition where sailors must sail around the world in a nautical race. Donald puts his house and his business up as collateral and uses an unfinished boat to single handedly circumnavigate the whole globe without stopping. While on his journey he faces one dire situation after another all the while trying to use all of his skill to hold off adversity.

Clare Crowhurst

Rachel Weisz

Rachel Weisz plays a loving house wife that stands by her husband and supports him, the problem is that her husband is an idiot. As for Rachel, I am satisfied with her performance but her best roles are when she is an active protagonist and the script focuses on her character more so. This is the kind of film Colin firth is good at, much like the film The King’s Speech (2010) with Helena Bonham Carter, which is a truly high quality film. Colin Firth has played a bad guy in the film Before I Fall Asleep (2014) with Nichole Kidman and he did not do very well. When he plays a generally good guy it works well, especially when his character is complex. David Thewlis plays the typical character he always plays, the calm, cool, and knowing older gentleman similar to the films Regression (2015) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) with Emma Watson. There is defiantly limits to his acting range but for what he can do on camera, it seems to be working out for him so far. This movies cast is top notch and very talented. Its easy to see this kind of film being more of a TV movie rather than on the silver screen, but these actors make this simplistic film work.

Donald Crowhurst

Colin Firth

The film focuses on the concept of glory. This protagonist is one of the most irresponsible main characters ever. This man puts it all on the line for his shot at fame. He mortgages his house and puts up his company all for his five minutes in the spotlight. His wife has to get on government assistance since her husband has been at sea for so long. The emotional toll that’s taken on her is painful to watch. The movie The Book Of Love (2017) with Maisie William ( Arya Stark from Game of Thrones ) is another film where the main protagonist set out for a sea adventure while doing something completely unethical. Sadly our main protagonist in this film Donald is suffering from depression and does not have anyone to pull him out of the void.

The Crowhurst

Family

The cinematography is excellent. You feel engaged in the film with the camera work and the veteran acting skills of Colin Firth. The lighting, wardrobe, set dressing, and backgrounds are all very high quality. I really liked the first two acts of the film but not the last act. I really don’t like this protagonist, his decisions, and the situation he left his family in. This is an interesting film that has a nice flow to the story. This is not a film that I would recommend for most viewers since they would like a happy film not a real and gritty film like this one. This movie is better than average.

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