''Mercy Streets'' is a 2000 Christian

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

written and directed by Jon Gunn. It starred Eric Roberts and Stacy Keach, among others.

Plot

''Mercy Streets'' is the story of twin brothers, John (David White), a con man and Jeremiah (David White), a pastor, who are forced to switch lives. After being released from prison, John is looking to make a new start, and agrees to work for his father figure and mentor Rome (Eric Roberts). When John attempts to double cross Rome, it sets off a chain reaction which turns the lives of both brothers into turmoil. While on the run from Rome, John steps into the calm suburban life of his twin brother Jeremiah and turns his good life upside down. Jeremiah, a well-loved and respected priest, is forced into the criminal underworld of his brother when he is taken hostage by Rome and

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

ed into taking part in a

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

ing scam. Haunted by the guilt of what he believes to be his brother's death, Jeremiah struggles to atone for his wrongdoing and redeem his faith by going along with the plan. However, Rome's simple plan begins to go horribly wrong when Jeremiah escapes and comes face to face with the brother he thought was dead. They both cannot turn away from the consequences of their actions or the love and forgiveness of God.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 13% based on eight reviews. The average rating was 4.1/10. Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on five critics. Kevin Thomas of the '' Los Angeles Times'' said, "Despite a competent cast and all the energy Roberts in particular contributes, the filmmakers cannot sustain enough momentum to keep their film from seeming contrived and preachy." Ted Baehr of Movieguide said, "''Mercy Streets'' is a masterful piece of moviemaking with a strong Gospel message."

References

External links

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Mercy Streets
at ChristianCinema.com {{Jon Gunn Films about evangelicalism 2000 films 2000 action drama films 2000 crime drama films American independent films American crime drama films 2000 directorial debut films 2000 independent films Films produced by David A. R. White Films about twin brothers Films about con artists Films produced by Kevin Downes Films produced by Bobby Downes Films directed by Jon Gunn 2000s English-language films 2000s American films