Mercy Streets Reviews

This crime thriller with a Christian message takes the old "prince and the pauper" plot and gives it a nifty spin; call it the "punk and the preacher." Orphaned twins John and Jeremiah Davis (David White) lived a hard-knock life until age 14, when John was thrown off a bridge by juvenile thugs as Jeremiah cowered silently. Jeremiah, now an Episcopal deacon less than a month away from ordination, believes his brother is dead. And John could be forgiven for thinking he'd be better off that way: Fresh out of prison, he's met at the gate by his criminal mentor Rome (Eric Roberts), who's got a corpse in the trunk and a lucrative scam — financed by a $50,000 loan from the Russian mob — ready to go. When John is less than enthusiastic about participating, Rome threatens to frame him for murder; John tries to steal Rome's $50,000, only to lose the cash down a sewer grate. John flees, armed with his pious brother's address, and in the ensuing confusion Rome manages to kidnap Jeremiah, thinking that he's John. John, meanwhile, senses an opportunity; he assumes Jeremiah's identity, only to discover that his brother's roommate is a cop (Shiek Mahmud-Bey) and that the deacon-to-be is in the middle of a relationship crisis with girlfriend Sam (Cynthia Watros). Director/co-writer/co-producer Jon Gunn's Christian agenda is evident without being intolerably sanctimonious, and he's a competent filmmaker who shows signs of having a little style. If it weren't for the fact that bad guys like Rome and his sidekick TJ (Robert LaSardo) have such clean mouths, and the occasional oddly Godly note (like Stacy Keach's cameo as a storefront priest with a smooth line of "Let go and let God" patter), you might mistake this film for a nicely made, run-of-the-mill direct-to-video thriller.