No Mercy

Directed by Richard Pearce, No Mercy follows grizzled Chicago cop Eddie Jilette (Richard Gere) as he heads to New Orleans to avenge the brutal murder of his partner by a vicious Cajun crime lord (Jeroen Krabbé’s Losado) – with the narrative also detailing the relationship that forms between Eddie and his target’s beautiful mistress (Kim Basinger’s Michel). It’s clear right off the bat that filmmaker Richard Pearce isn’t looking to deliver a typical, run-of-the-mill ’80s cop thriller, as No Mercy boasts a gritty sensibility that’s reflected primarily in Gere’s tough-as-nails performance and Michel Brault’s gritty, atmospheric visuals. (New Orleans, in terms of the latter, has never looked quite this sketchy, that’s for sure.) There’s little doubt, as well, that the picture benefits substantially from a compelling midsection that’s been peppered with unexpectedly engrossing sequences and interludes, and it’s difficult, certainly, not to get a kick out of the periodic emphasis on the various (agreeable) conventions of the genre (including George Dzundza’s angry police captain and Krabbé’s Eurotrash villain). By the time the violent climax, in which Gere’s character rigs an empty hotel with booby traps, rolls around, No Mercy has undoubtedly cemented its place as an unjustly forgotten ’80s actioner that generally fares a whole lot better than one might’ve anticipated.

*** out of ****