136. Crowhurst; movie review

CROWHURST
Cert 12A
103 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate threat

This is a curiosity - the same studio, Studiocanal, releases two films with the same subject within weeks of each other.
But while The Mercy, starring Colin Firth had a £20m budget and a huge publicity campaign, Simon Rumley's Cowhurts cost £800,000 and has not even been given an official trailer.
It turns out that Studiocanal bought up Crowhurst because it did not want competition for its delayed The Mercy.
It would have been better if it had merged the content of the two movies.
When I reviewed The Mercy I admitted that I couldn't put my finger on why it didn't work as well as it should.
Well, now I know. Crowhurst offers a much better portrayal of its subject's nervous breakdown on the high seas.
Both films focus on the story of Donald Crowhurst, a wannabe inventor who saw a chance to promote his business and escape dire financial straits by attempting to win a non-stop around-the-world yacht race in 1968.
The catch is that Crowhurst had never sailed for longer than two days.
The Mercy concentrates much more on the lead-up to the voyage during which Crowhurst supervises the build of his boat and the fraught fund-raising.
By contrast, Rumley's film focuses on Crowhurst's mental and physical demise which was illuminated by the three log books which remained after his ill-fated adventure.
In my opinion, the lesser-known Justin Salinger offers a depth and emotion which Colin Firth didn't as Crowhurst, aided by a production team which realised that he would not have looked his best after hundreds of days at sea.
However, Rumley's movie, while including small contributions of Crowhurst's over-enthusiastic publicist (Christopher Hale) and wife Clare (Amy Loughton), does not build-up the Teignmouth nor national news angles enough.
No Mercy and Crowhurst's best elements combined would have added up to a 9/10 movie. Separately, they are worth seven.


Reasons to watch: A grittier version of the Crowhurst story
Reasons to avoid: Was too familiar with it after watching Mercy

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Director quote - Simon Rumley: "This concept of a man on the verge of a mental breakdown has proven fascinating to me. So to have a nervous breakdown on a boat is a distressing and sad experience, no doubt, that allowed us to go a little crazy with the visuals and the sound."

The big question - Why didn't Donald Crowhurst tell the truth?

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