The Mercy (film)

Saw the film last night. A well acted piece but I felt it suffered from dreadful pacing. It started slowly and continued at that pace which I felt failed to ratchet up the tension and downward spiral of the man. I also went into the film being very familiar with the story which was both a blessing and a curse. To anyone not familiar with the story, I think they would be hard pushed to appreciate the events that conspired to lead Crowhurst to his end. This was evidenced by hearing someone talking about the film at the end of the showing and musing that it must have been the salt water that drove him mad! I think the documentary Deep Water was ultimately a better treatment of the subject matter.
 
There is a 2 page review in this weekends Herald Arts Supplement (Alison Rowat)
Quote 'It is a tale of derring do, but the result this time, one or two inspired moments aside, is a slog'.
Finishing with 'Matters become more engrossing in the films second half as Crowhurst tries to keep body soul and mind together but by this point it will be a rare viewer that has not succumbed to exhaustion.'
Not impressed then, she thinks that the story has been told so often that this movie has little to add.
 
robmcg said:
Saw the film last night. A well acted piece but I felt it suffered from dreadful pacing. It started slowly and continued at that pace which I felt failed to ratchet up the tension and downward spiral of the man. I also went into the film being very familiar with the story which was both a blessing and a curse. To anyone not familiar with the story, I think they would be hard pushed to appreciate the events that conspired to lead Crowhurst to his end. This was evidenced by hearing someone talking about the film at the end of the showing and musing that it must have been the salt water that drove him mad! I think the documentary Deep Water was ultimately a better treatment of the subject matter.
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Exactly my feelings too.
If I had to summarise the film in one word it would be: superficial.
If I didn't know the story, I would not get what drove him to suicide.

The film has more than a whiff of 'All is Lost' to it.
Maybe it just goes to show how hard it is to make a decent picture about sailing.
 
As stated, the definitive telling of this story is the excellent Deep Water. I watched The Mercy last night and i thought Firth did a sterling job in the part of Donald. However there was a scene where Teignmouth Electron is towed out of harbour with modern boats and yachts on moorings in the shot. The cinematic illusion was lost on me there and I found it hard to re-engage with the film thereafter.
I think they made great efforts to have period correct clothes, props and cars etc but then they blew the continuity in one scene. I think I saw a J/80 and a Quicksilver 580 day boat so it wasn't just a fleeting glimpse..
 
beef said:
As stated, the definitive telling of this story is the excellent Deep Water. I watched The Mercy last night and i thought Firth did a sterling job in the part of Donald. However there was a scene where Teignmouth Electron is towed out of harbour with modern boats and yachts on moorings in the shot. The cinematic illusion was lost on me there and I found it hard to re-engage with the film thereafter.
I think they made great efforts to have period correct clothes, props and cars etc but then they blew the continuity in one scene. I think I saw a J/80 and a Quicksilver 580 day boat so it wasn't just a fleeting glimpse..
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Your eyes did not deceive you. I also noticed the J80 in the background which did sort of give the game away. I am sure they could have filmed from a different angle.
 
beef said:
I watched The Mercy last night......However there was a scene where Teignmouth Electron is towed out of harbour with modern boats and yachts on moorings in the shot.......I think I saw a J/80 and a Quicksilver 580 day boat so it wasn't just a fleeting glimpse..
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Ahead of their time those J-80's and Quicksilvers.......!
 
It's a pity when they went to so much trouble accurately recreating Teignmouth Electron. Carefully 'weathering' it in accordance with length of time at sea. They rusted out some steel fittings, aged the sails and running rigging, attacked the Windows with scouring pads and removed alot of the varnish from the wood work etc..
 
There was a braid on braid sheet in the cockpit in a couple of shots, white with blue specks I think. Struck me as inauthentic for the 1960s, but I just Googled it and see the stuff was introduced in that decade. The halyards were all 3-strand. Was that braid on braid true to the period?
 
Was there a Routemaster in the shot?

Mrs DW was wondering if Macnamara in The Post was out of time as he was wearing a Ralf Lauren polo shirt. Seems he was, as it was '71 and the shirts came out in '72. Funnily enough, it did not impact on our enjoyment of the film.
I might look at the other Crowhurst film that got pushed back, sounds interesting.

As for the modern yachts, I boggle at the idea of filling a port with period ones from the 60's.
 
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I just saw it.

I have to say im not a fan of watching true story films where I know what is going to happen.

I did think it was a bit slow!

Also Im not sure I believe all the nice bits?!
 
xyachtdave said:
Ahead of their time those J-80's and Quicksilvers.......!
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Well down here in South Devon there was a story going round that boat owners were paid to take their boats away from the river
Teign harbour for the duration of the film making, cannot confirm it as not got a boat in the Estuary where the filming took place.
 
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Tomahawk said:
Knowing more than I want to about mental illness and depression, I don't want to watch a film about someone having a mental breakdown.
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I'm reading the book and given up for this reason, fortunately my local odeon is not showing it... the new 50 shades film takes centre stage.
 
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