By

The Mercy

Fantastic voyage

Based on true stuff: In 1968, Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailor with little open-sea experience, set out in an unfinished and ill-provisioned boat, hoping to win the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, sailing around the world solo and nonstop. He never left the Atlantic, but as he became increasingly unstable and faced public ridicule, he filed false location reports that indicated he was fine and even in the lead. Though the boat was eventually found, its captain was never seen again. This tight little movie follows Crowhurst (Colin Firth) as he transforms from dreamer to schemer to madman. Also Rachel Weisz. (112 min)