Starring: Colin Firth, Rachel Weisz, David Thewlis, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Buchan
Directed By: James Marsh
Running Time: 101 Minutes
UK Release Date: 09 February 2018
BBFC Certificate: 12A
Regular readers of my reviews know that from time to time I like to attend screenings for films I know nothing about, free from any hype or expectation. With this mindset I was blown away by a little gem called Hell or High Water in 2016, but I’ve also seen some duds which I won’t mention here.
As such I went into The Mercy with no knowledge of the film beside the two leads, but had an underlying feeling that this may be a film designed to win awards due to its release in February and the fact that director James Marsh’s previous film, The Theory of Everything (2014), was both critically praised and won a lot of gongs. What I got was a perfectly fine and enjoyable film, but in all honesty it felt like a feature length drama made for the small screen, which isn’t really surprising as it’s made by BBC Films. [Read more…]
Synopsis: ‘Following his Academy Award® winning film The Theory of Everything, James Marsh directs the incredible true story of Donald Crowhurst (COLIN FIRTH, The King’s Speech, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Railway Man), an amateur sailor who competed in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in the hope of becoming the first person in history to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping. With an unfinished boat and his business and house on the line, Donald leaves his wife, Clare (RACHEL WEISZ, The Light Between Oceans, The Lobster) and their children behind, hesitantly embarking on an adventure on his boat the Teignmouth Electron.
It’s spy thriller time for Chris Pine and Michelle Williams, who are currently in negotiations to star in All the Old Knives.