# Mercy (1999)

### reviewed by
Steve Rhodes

    MERCY
    A film review by Steve Rhodes
    Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
    RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

Ellen Barkin, as the toughly resolute Detective Catherine Palmer, is investigating the second of what will prove to be a series of gruesome murders. Lying before her in the opening sequence is the nude body of a female executive who has been brutally and ritualistically killed.

As the body count mounts in MERCY, the link between the victims will prove to be a predilection for sadomasochistic sex among females. The movie, written and directed by Damian Harris, is based on David L. Lindsey's novel. As the director and one of the film's leads, Peta Wilson, told us at the screening, both the book and the movie were thoroughly researched. Lindsey spent 2 years in S&M dungeons, and Peta said that she visited 36 S&M parlors of pain. All of this notwithstanding, the story's weakness is that part of it seems too outlandish to be credible. On the other hand, most viewers will not have frequented such palaces of pain and so will have no real idea as to the story's accuracy.

Starting off with the normal detached professionalism that you would expect from a homicide detective, Catherine quickly goes astray. When she picks up a stranger (Stephen Baldwin) at a bar for a one-night stand, complete with some heavy slapping, you can see that Catherine may possess her own wild side.

The common link among the dead women is an alluringly tall, blond lesbian named Vickie Kittrie (Peta Wilson). Although Vickie at first resists giving Catherine any information, she reveals more as she sets her eyes on Catherine as her next sexual conquest. Vickie explains that sex for her is like putting your head in the mouth of the most vicious lion at the zoo. A mixture of sex, secrecy and seduction runs through the film as does the commonality of child abuse as an underlying cause of many of the characters' actions.

The director puts a firm stamp on his picture. Scenes move with a deliberate slowness, accentuated by mesmerizing music and handsome cinematography. Sometimes the editor switches to a slightly slowed motion to further enhance the mood.

The intriguing film is at its best when it sticks to its roots as a crime drama with the investigation parts being the picture's highlights. The sexuality works at times, but too often dissolves into a kind of psychobabble. Julian Sands plays an especially bizarre psychiatrist whose performance is unnecessarily detached.

In a film without a lot of laughs and one in which the S&M world frequently looks too glamorous, Catherine's second in command, Lt. Fritch (Beau Starr), pokes fun at it all. "Doesn't anyone have good old-fashioned sex anymore -- missionary position, then watch television afterwards?" he asks. Not in Vickie's world since they're only interested in sex if it's laced with as much danger as possible.

MERCY runs 1:55. It is rated R for language, drug use and perverse sexual behavior including violence and nudity. It would be acceptable for high school seniors. (The director told us that they had to go through 4 submissions to the MPAA before they got the film an R rating. In a picture with much gruesome violence, it was the brief hint of oral lesbian sexuality that caused them the most trouble. Wilson though it was stupid since she said that she clearly just kissed Barkin's hip.)

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