It’s Die Hard in a hospital as a former combat surgeon battles ruthless Irish gangsters holding innocent patients’ hostage. Mercy could have been a pulse-pounding thriller with a scrappy protagonist who’s easy to root for. Star Leah Gibson delivers beatings and bullets like a bona fide action star. Villains Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jon Voight, sporting a sweet Limerick brogue, are nasty enough to warrant true contempt. Thus, the overall premise and individual performances aren’t lacking for the material. The problem lies in the execution of a weak script loaded with plot holes. Several scenes try your patience as common sense and self-preservation are obviously ignored.
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In Kandahar, Afghanistan, Captain Michelle Miller (Gibson) faces a life or death situation in a field hospital. Its tragic outcome irrevocably changing her fate. Several years later, Michelle works as a doctor at Seattle’s Mercy Regional Hospital. She proves her undeniable skill by saving a severely injured man. Dr. Terrence (Bobby Stewart), her former commanding officer and current manager, applauds her ability to think quickly and act decisively.
Irish Mobsters
Paramount Global Content
Meanwhile, the FBI interrogates Ryan Quinn (Anthony Konechny), the son of Irish mob boss Patrick Quinn (Voight). They want him to testify against his father and violent older brother, Sean (Rhys Meyers). Ryan, a squeaky clean lawyer, knows all the dirt but refuses to turn against his family. The Feds decide to move Ryan to another location. Sean’s goons had been tailing Ryan when he was taken. Sean instructs them to grab their weapons while he sets an ambush.
It’s a bloodbath as Sean unleashes a fusillade against the hapless FBI. A surprising twist in the attack lays his true motivations bare. Rookie agent Ellis (Sebastien Roberts) survives and escapes with a critically wounded Ryan to the nearest trauma hospital. Michelle saves Ryan’s live but must battle his savage family before they discover her precious son (Anthony Bolognese).
Leah Gibson Packs a Wallop
Paramount
Silly cut scenes with waving flags and patriotic music blaring show Michelle’s heroic medal count like a video game score. This was completely unnecessary and increases the cheese factor. A shredded Gibson packs a wallop and then some. She brutalizes the invaders in bone-crushing fight scenes. They’re not pushovers that wilt at the first blow but get serious comeuppance. The butt-kicking doctor draws blood the hard way. Gibson is believable and elevates the film with her raw grit.
Related: Exclusive Mercy Clip Shows Leah Gibson’s Skills
Screenwriter Alex Wright (Once Upon a Prince, Stolen from Suburbia) has extensive experience as a director and producer. The primary characters are well-defined. Wright’s script goes south with secondary characters piddling around with useless tasks. For example, a ludicrous subplot has Michelle asking an inept security guard (Marc-Anthony Massiah) to disable the security monitors. Thus preventing the baddies from tracking her movements or finding Ryan’s location. Makes perfect sense but his inability to accomplish this had me literally laughing out loud. Smashing or disabling the monitors never occurs to him. Mercy is rife with inane filler that could have been cut.
Mercy’s Decent Action Scenes
A tough performance from Gibson, ruthless antagonists, and decent action scenes can’t overcome major narrative failures. That’s unfortunate because Mercy’s base elements held promise. The bad outweighs the good here.
Mercy is a production of Front Street Pictures and Paramount Pictures. It is currently in select theaters with a digital release May 19th and VOD on June 2nd from Paramount Global Content Distribution.
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