Monday, April 19, 2021

Movie review: Mr. Mercedes


 From horror novelist Stephen King, the story of a psychopath who drives a stolen Mercedes into a job fair crowd and the retired cop, Bill Hodges, who makes it his personal mission to bring the killer to justice.

Brendan Gleeson (Bill), Holland Taylor (Ida), Jharrel Jerome (Jerome), Breeda Wool (Lou), Justine Lupe (Holly), Harry Treadaway (Brady), Maximiliano Hernandez (Antonio), Kate Mulgrew (Alma), Nancy Travis (Donna).

Mr. Mercedes is a 3 season series based on the 3 book series and named after the first book from horror author Stephen King. The series begins well giving us a fair amount of background and character development while at the same time rolling out the storyline. Largely a psychological story, the series moves along with good plot points but takes time developing depth. Toward the end of the third season we get a nice plot twist leading to the finish. The film ends with many open questions and the possibility of a future, which may or may not be consistent with the books which I have not yet read.

Acting was good with Gleeson delivering well. Treadaway was very well cast and delivered perfectly, as did Lupe and Mulgrew. Taylor and Jerome were enjoyable while Wool contributed solid depth and emotion. The remainder of the supporting cast was interesting and entertaining.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds have a nice, solid feel and maintain consistency throughout the series. Action scenes and effects are fairly mild, fitting, and added nicely to the film. Dialogue is solid with nice depth and good movement throughout. Sound and soundtrack are good.

Overall Mr. Mercedes is a solid thriller with good acting, technical work, and enjoyable storyline with good depth. King fans should enjoy this one though I admit to not having yet read the books and cannot speak to consistency. Some viewers may feel the series is too long for the story.

With somewhat graphic sexuality and nudity, violence, gore, more gore, and prolific foul language, this should be fine for older teens and above.

Released: 2019
Reviewed: 4.12.21
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Series based on Books

copyright ©2021 Dave Riedel

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