Das Mercury Puzzle

Not a very great movie, but it's entertaining and keeps the interest, despite its flaws which aren't that few. But still it deserves a positive feedback from me and I guess my rating is fair.

Even though this is another Bruce Willis's action-flick, at least this one isn't excessive on that matter, it has a story: Bruce Willis portrays Art, an FBI agent who protects Simon, a boy who is 9 years old and is autistic. Some criminals want to silence the boy after he deciphered a super-difficult code named "Mercury" and Art's mission is to make sure he doesn't get assassinated.

Since the movie is mostly about the FBI agent and the autistic boy and their chemistry, there should be more touching moments. But at least the ending has a tender scene when Simon hugs Art.

Bruce Willis won the 1999 Golden Raspberry for his performance. Well, his acting may be nothing special, but certainly not deserving of a Golden Raspberry on this one.

On the other hand, Miko Hughes won the category of Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor at the 1999 Young Artist Awards. A very deserved tribute, his acting as Simon is superb (a difficult role for a child, which he masterfully portrays). I think he should have won an Oscar for Best Child Actor. Why does it always have to be the adults winning Oscars? Why can't children win them too?

I haven't read the novel that this is based upon. In fact, I didn't know there was one. This happened to be on TV, I had no set in stone plans, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm honestly not sure why this is rated so low. Sure, there are some clichés. Yes, the idea of the government putting out a hit(with rather sloppy killers, at that) on a kid for a code is silly(besides, what if another one cracks it? How high a body-count is acceptable, exactly?). Look past those aspects. I haven't watched anything else by this director except for Malice, which was also a nice piece of work. This is put together quite well, with the editing and cinematography building tension and doing a decent job of conveying Simon's "ability". I've had experiences with Autistic people of different ages and varied severity of condition, and the depiction here is convincing and fairly respectful(do note that far from all who have the syndrome are as distant and/or helpless on their own as seen here), and this serves to explain and demystify it a tad(certainly more than I remember Rain Man doing). Miko researched for his role, and he does a great job. Willis is good(when isn't he?), and they do well together. Baldwin is as delightfully detestable as we know he can be. There is a nice amount of talent in the cast, if not all of it is allowed to shine. Granted, there could be more action. There is a little brutal, bloody violence in this. I recommend this to fans of thrillers. 6/10

Willis is impressive (and softer) as an F.B.I. agent who protects an autistic boy who has cracked a major government code. Baldwin appears as the man who is threatened by the young boys' actions. Surprisingly good film with a more toned down type of hero for star Willis.

This movie has one huge problem: *its basic premise makes no sense at all*. Killing the kid is in absolutely nobody's interest. His codebreaking skill would be of immeasurable value to the very people who are trying to kill him, while safeguarding the code without killing him would be fairly straightforward. This is so obvious that it essentially ruins the whole movie.

The rest of the movie is OK if you ignore that problem. The performances are generally good, and Miko Hughes is excellent as Simon. There is nothing here you haven't seen a dozen times before, but it's generally well done. It's not worth making any real effort to see this movie, but you probably won't have a bad time if you do.

Mercury Rising is far from a masterpiece, the ending is choppy and the script has its weak spots. But it was the plot that was the main problem, despite its intriguing idea it is not only very thin and routine but some of it doesn't always make sense. However, the cinematography and editing are great, and there are enough tension and thrills to make up for the heavily flawed plot-line. The film is well-directed too, and the music has atmosphere while not being intrusive. The acting is fine, Bruce Willis is good in his role and his chemistry with Hughes feels natural, and Alec Baldwin is very chilling and detestable, but it is Miko Hughes who is excellent as the autistic child who carries the movie (being autistic myself I could relate to him). Overall, flawed but a decent film. 7/10 Bethany Cox