Mercy

MERCY starts off by lulling the viewer into believing he is watching a low-budget exploitative crime thriller, but unexpectedly the film turns into an incisive character study. The cast, especially John Rubinstein, Amber Kain, and Sam Rockwell, does a great job throughout. The only weak point is a very distracting, gratuitous scene in which the Rubinstein character meets a psychotic arms merchant, but this interruption is brief, and the plot soon picks up and builds to a satisfying climax.

This is the first Richard Shepard movie I have seen, and I plan to view more of his work as the opportunity presents.

Glad his father wasn't alive to see it. A trashy, paperback novel. I watched this film because it was the only thing available during an attack of insomnia. John used to be a super actor.

I prefer to be succinct, but the damn guidelines of this site insist that I have at least 10 lines of text.

The writer before me described the film as being 'intense'. I found the film to be intensely boring and trivial.

No merit whatsoever, the only good actor was the child.

The only films ABC airs in the early morning are the ones no one wants to rent from Netflix or BlockBuster. I am being forced to comment about the film and it is difficult to continue on a negative note.

I do not recommend this film.

this is some of the worst, most cliched writing i've seen in a while...terrible direction and horrible lighting and photography, not to mention the stilted acting, with the exception of the maid and sam rockwell. poor sam rockwell puts in an energetic performance only to be destroyed by how badly the shots were set up adn the editing...oh my god! what a boring, terrible, cliched film...the first 2 minutes lets you know...WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!!! BORING! BORING! BORING!

This is a movie about a father who is searching for his kidnapped daughter in New York City. First off, I would like to say that the pacing of this movie is incredible. Nothing is too drawn out, nor does it speed up towards the end and wrap everything up in 15 minutes. There is definitely a lot of tension in this movie, I definitely felt it during a few scenes.

This is one of those movies where the story moves between "good guy, bad guy" in terms of John Rubenstein's character. He is introduced as a somewhat snobby lawyer who makes sure he gets what he wants. That quickly changes once he finds out his daughter is missing. From then on, he is depicted as a determined father, who will stop at nothing to get his daughter back. Some scenes even show that his determination somehow ties into his dark past, thinking that he is a powerful person who can have his way if he feels like it, ignoring the risk and danger that may be involved. Yes, there is definitely some great character work in this movie.

I would also like to mention that it is almost ironic that Rick Gomez appears in this movie. He is, of course, the angry man who wants to use the payphone (If you've seen the movie, you will know who I am talking about.) I mention Rick because he and Sam Rockwell look unbelievably alike, so just so you don't get confused, if you think you see one of the kidnappers waiting to use the pay phone, that's not actually Sam Rockwell, it's Rick Gomez. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Ruby's character is also brilliantly developed. Ruby was once a sweet, yet somewhat obsessive teenager, now grown into a twisted kidnapper, seeking revenge for reasons unknown until much later on in the movie. Her shining scene, in my opinion, is when she begins to loose her grip on her own sanity as she is slowly engulfed in her own anger and hatred for the Father, and we as the audience are left with more questions than answers. What in the world could make this young woman so angry, so vengeful, that she would risk everything to commit a crime such as this? The very ending (the elevator scene, I won't say any more) is what could make or break the movie. It is a decision the Father makes, and the viewer is left to agree or disagree with his choice. Would it be his turn to seek revenge, or will he just file it away as another dark spot in his past? If you want to find out, you should see the movie, and I recommend it as a great rental for a rainy Saturday evening. Definitely a popcorn movie as well!

I first saw this movie in 1997, and I can't help but to watch it every time it runs. This is grand movie. It did not take a whole lotta money to make such an amazing film, either! Amber Kain who played Ruby, is brilliant, she's beautiful, and she has so much talent. It is such a shame that she does not get many roles. Amber, you made "Mercy" the smashing film that it is!