"Art is your friend."      

MERCURY RISING (R) 

Reviewed April 4, 1998 - Check out the Mercury Rising website.

In Mercury Rising, a 9-year-old autistic-savant cracks a $2 billion, top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) code.  The NSA (naturally) now wants the 9-year-old dead, and is quickly able to terminate the child's parents.  However, when renegade FBI agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) is sent to investigate the parents' death, he quickly figures out that 9-year-old Simon (Miko Hughes) is in danger, and sets out to protect the child. 

Okay, that's the short version of this film's setup, but unless you haven't watched an action flick in a l-o-o-ng time, you probably know what happens next.  Chase scenes, gunfights, a lot of crashed cars and broken glass...you know, just like all the other action flicks you've seen before.  As NSA Lt. Colonel Nick Kudrow (Alec Baldwin) hunts down Art and Simon, we are led on one predictable cat-and-mouse sequence after another, resulting into what turns out to be one disappointingly uninspired film.

In Mercury Rising's defense, I should probably say that as "disappointingly uninspired films" go, this isn't a totally bad one.  Director Harold Becker's pacing is brisk, Bruce Willis is expectedly likeable, and Alec Baldwin is appropriately unlikeable.  In addition, Miko Hughes does a convincing job playing the autistic child Simon, even managing to upstage Willis on several occasions.  Unfortunately, there really isn't much originality to this picture, and parts of the plot (most noticeably the ending) seem slapped together for the sake of expediency.  After all is said and done, will you really care what happens to Simon?  Well, you might care a little bit, but chances are you'll probably be too busy wondering about all the unexplained (and very weak) plot twists in the film.  Mercury rising, mercury falling...in the end this isn't much more than an out-on-a-limb cop taking on an evil government agency...I'm just hoping that Bruce Willis finds a better plot for himself next time around...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

lozcat2@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "A really good movie. The boy playing Simon was very realistic and Bruce Willis (as always) was excellent." (12/5/00)

sibling@gte.net gives this movie  stars: "I think Bruce Willis is hot and I love his movies. I think he is very talented and would be great in every movie even if it showed a glimpse of him. Thanks, your number one fan Jacqueline Morales" (10/16/99)

jennifer@foothill.net gives this movie  stars. (12/29/98)

David gives this movie  stars: "Good -- the kid was really good in it with a great character. Some parts were rushed ( i.e. the ending ) and some parts were pretty unrealistic, but it was good" (10/4/98)

Dave gives this movie  star: "I would rather be tortured to death than watch this movie again." (8/1/98)

nickblaskowski@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: ""Mommy,si-mon is home", I liked this movie alot! Can't you tell! "Your telling me a nine year old kid cracked the government super code?" From start to finish this was a great movie! A little hard to understand at times,but great!" (5/2/98)