| TriStar Pictures | Release Date: December 19, 1986 | CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
|
Positive:
4
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
|
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Critic Reviews
I could go two ways. I could say that No Mercy is a dumb formula thriller, which we can all sort of figure out from the ads, or I could go the other way and talk about the movie's style and energy. I think I'll go the second way, because whatever this movie is, it's not boring. It doesn't take shortcuts and it delivers on its grimy, breathless action sequences.
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Richard Pearce's thriller suffers from near-total predictability, with a script that careers headlong through clichéd situations, calculatedly coarse dialogue, and cardboard characters. That said, Pearce reveals a strong feel for lurid locations and spectacular set pieces, and makes the film look stylish, too much so in the case of the three leads. Indeed, taken straight it's all a little risible; but as fast-paced hokum pitted with plot-holes, it's polished fun - no more, no less.
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Technically, "No Mercy" is a smooth, assured piece of work, with a
sense of movement and color far superior to Pearce's previous outings. But it
is in technique that American action movies have taken their last refuge. The
commitment to character is gone, the effort to create credible, vivid
situations has been forgotten. What remains is empty know-how, and it is
difficult to see the difference between this kind of filmmaking and the
impersonal style-for-hire that goes into a typical TV commercial.
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Count me among those who would be perfectly happy if they never saw another movie in which a big-city cop, fueled by the death of his partner, seeks revenge against a corrupt small-town sheriff, a wily and ruthless pillar of the Establishment, a psychotic killer or (as here) all three. While you're at it, count me among those who would be happy never to see another starring role for Gere, except maybe as Felix in a remake of "The Odd Couple."
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Please. Quick. Somebody stop Jim Carabatsos before he writes another movie. Carabatsos, author of the vile new Clint Eastwood movie Heartbreak Ridge, has created another trashy screenplay in No Mercy, thus affording stars Richard Gere and Kim Basinger the chance to sully their careers. [19 Dec 1986, p.7]
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