MERCY STREETS

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: lack of purpose and impact

Rated:

Merely one in a long line of Christian films to hit the secular market, Mercy Streets is the story of two brothers each bound by circumstance. John is a convicted felon out on parole. His brother Jeremiah is studying to become a pastor. Their lives will soon entwine as they are each forced to live one another's life and reckon with their own past indifferences. Separated at the age of thirteen, the boys have each lived very different lives. Jeremiah has never forgiven himself for the fateful afternoon in which he and John were separated and the latter presumed dead. What he doesn't know as he grapples with self-forgiveness is that John is very much alive... and a wanted man. He's just been released from the state penitentiary but on a threat agrees to do one last job for his old boss, Rock. 

After making a deal with Rock's "clients," John takes off with the fifty grand his boss borrowed from the Italian mafia, intending to make a run. Through a series of events, John loses the cash. Rock and his tattooed thug TJ are on to him. In desperation, he searches out his brother... but the twins are mistaken for one another and Jeremiah is kidnapped. Unconcerned with his brother's fate, John now finds himself in the midst of churchgoing folk who believe him to be, in his brother's reputation, an all-around nice guy. His room mate is the town sheriff. His girlfriend Sam is a bubbly, fun-loving artist with a lot of spunk. And the church is full of wealthy patrons willing to give handouts to the poor and needy. John sets up a scam to con the church people but soon finds himself waylaid by his brother's better aspects of life... namely Sam. She knows there's something different about him but can't put her finger on it. She likes the new and improved, more open and honest and even romantic "Jeremiah" and even their former quibble over marriage has been set aside. 

In the meantime, the real Jeremiah is being forced by Rock to take his brother's place in this "business deal." Otherwise, Rock will send incriminating evidence to the police. The old line about "walking in someone else's shoes" for a day comes vividly to life in Mercy Streets, which is ultimately a story with a good message to it. It deals a lot with self-frustration and anger. It points out the ever-true fact that while God may have forgiven you, sometimes you need to forgive yourself. Jeremiah struggles with feelings of guilt throughout, which ultimately leads him to almost make the wrong choice at a pivotal moment. In the meantime, John must face the reality of his own hatred for his brother... and realize that whether or not he has a high opinion of Jeremiah, everyone in town thinks he's something special.

There's a lot of emphasis on Jesus being the truth, the way, and the light. He's spoken of reverently and in one scene an older pastor confides to Jeremiah that He doesn't demand anything more of you than repentance. He asks Jeremiah to seek his heart and his understanding, since he really doesn't know the truth; he only thinks he does. John also gets a healthy dose of Christianity, both from the church and those around him. Criminal activity is painted in a bad light and sets up the bad guys to prove that all illegal enterprises are merely a scam. The film, while with a good message, isn't for everyone. Overall it didn't appeal to me. It took awhile to get things moving and focused more on John's life of crime than Jeremiah's alternate life of Christianity. It also suffers from a fair amount of violence (several shootings, numerous fistfights, and at least two counts of abuse toward women; John shoves Sam away from him onto the couch, and Rock pushes around John's girlfriend). There are a few instances of cleavage and short skirts. One profanity is used in the term "go to hell."

For fans of films with a mafia-like feel to them, Mercy Streets can provide some rich conversation with both Christians and nonbelievers. It brings up many good points and is not very objectionable. It has some witty moments, a few scares, and a memorable climax. It's actually a fairly good film without, for once, the usual End Times harp that most Christian filmmakers are caught up in.