Very Cool!!!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blistering performances.

Not impressed. I was expecting more to the story. Very slow told. Didn´t have the patience to watch all the way through. Some fast forward was involved.

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.

It's 1968. Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle"; "Magic in the Moonlight"), an amateur sailor and entrepreneur based in Teignmouth, Devon, is inspired by listening to single-handed round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester and does a a crazy thing. He puts his business, his family's house and his own life on the line by entering the Sunday Times single-handed round-the-world yacht race. It's not even as if he has a boat built yet! Lending him the money, under onerous terms, are local businessman Mr Best (Ken Stott, "The Hobbit") and local newspaper editor Rodney Hallworth (David Thewlis, "Wonder Woman", "The Theory of Everything"). With the race deadline upon him, Crowhurst is pressed into sailing away from his beloved wife Clare (Rachel Weisz, "Denial", "The Lobster") and young family in a trimaran that is well below par. But what happens next is so ludicrous that it makes a mockery of whoever wrote this ridiculous work of fiction. Ah... but wait a minute... it's a true story!It is in fact such an astonishing story that this is a film that is easy to spoil in a review, a fact that seems to have passed many UK newspaper reviewers by (aarrrggghhh!!). So I will leave much comment to a "spoiler section" on http://bob-the-movie-man.com. The trailer is also best avoided: this is honestly a film worth seeing cold.What can I say that is spoiler-free then? Firth and Weisz make a well-matched couple, and the rest of the cast is peppered with well-known faces from British film and (particularly) TV: Andrew Buchan and Jonathan Bailey (from "Broadchurch"); Mark Gatiss ("Sherlock", "Out Kind of Traitor"); Adrian Schiller ("Victoria"; "Beauty and the Beast").The first part of the film is well executed and excellent value for older viewers. 60's Devon is warm, bucolic and nostalgic. In fact, the film beautifully creates the late 60's of my childhood, from the boxy hardwood furniture of the Crowhurst's house to the Meccano set opened at Christmas time. Once afloat though, the film is less successful at getting its sea-legs. The story is riveting, but quite a number of the scenes raise more questions than they answer. As stress takes hold it is perhaps not surprising that there are a few fantastical flights of movie fancy. But some specific elements in Scott Burns' script don't quite gel: a brass clock overboard is a case in point. What? Why?And it seems to be light on the fallout from the race: there is a weighty scene in the trailer between Best and Hallworth that (unless I dozed off!) I don't think appeared in the final cut, and I think was needed. All in all, I was left feeling mildly dissatisfied: a potentially good film by "Theory of Everything" director James Marsh that rather goes off the rails in the final stretch. This was a time where morality and honour were often rigidly adhered to - British "stiff upper lip" and all that - and seemed to carry a lot more weight than they do today. So some of the decisions in the film might mystify younger viewers. But for the packed older audience in my showing then it was a gripping, stressful, but far from flawless watch. I'd also like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to the film's composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who shockingly died last week at the ridiculously young age of 48. His strange and atmospheric music for films including "The Theory of Everything", "Sicario" and (particularly) "Arrival" set him on the path to be a film composing great of the future. Like James Horner, another awful and untimely loss to the film music industry.(For the full graphical review - and a spoiler section for those who have seen the film - please visit bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks).

BBC made film based on fact.Donald Crowhurst, who was married with 4 children, and an amature weekend sailor, attempted a single handed, non-stop, around the world boat race. In my opinion pushing boundaries is admirable ... BUT ...I couldn't help thinking whether a responsible bloke would really abandon their family and attempt such a dangerous lengthy challenge, when there was a 50% chance of survival? Especially when the bloke in question was unprepared, and in a boat that was practically unfinished and untested!It doesn't make any sense!On top of that, Donald was a total cheat, he stopped in Argentina to make some repairs, exaggerated his progress reports and falsified his logs. Suffered hallucinations due to deteriorating mental state and felt guilty for causing the sinking of another competitors (Nigel Tetley's) boat. Eventually could no longer maintain the lies and committed suicide due to the intense scrutiny his logs would have undergone and the overwhelming guilt. The film was well made, but I was completely irritated by Donald's attitude towards his responsibilities, and felt he probably got what he deserved in the end, hence the 5/10 score.