Mercury Rising

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 just watcehd this on DVD, loved it and was literally stunned to find that most people, in particular those that write movie reviews for a living slated this.

Maybe its because in 2004, some six years after its original release we are seeing a revival of the action/thriller (Bourne Supremacy etc).

So, what didn't I like, not much. I would like to have seen more made of the kids codebreaking, they could really have milked that and didn't, the opening scene was just to cliché in setting up Willis's character as were the characters of his big black boss and hard nosed chief. The very last scene was typical US syrup but was thankfully very short.

What was good? everything else, I loved the idea behind the story, Miko Hughes is totally amazing to the point I had to check the next day to find out how the hell they managed to get a autistic kid to act (is isn't autistic but is a damn fine actor), Willis really does add vulnerability to a role that he has played many times before, with the movie underpinned fantastically with a John Barry soundscore and Harold Becker carefully crafts what for me was a very enjoyable movie watching experience and stands head and shoulders above many I have seen recently. 3/5 for me

The novel 'Simple Simon' was written by Ryne Pearson and easily transferred to the silver screen, where it was directed expertly by Harold Becker. The movie tells the story of an autistic boy named Simon Lynch (Miko Hughes) who incredibly is able to decipher a top secret code created by the N.S.A. When the secret is uncovered, the top executive, Nick Kudrow (Alec Baldwin) believes his network of undercover agents and their identifies are in danger of being compromised and therefor orders a top assassin to execute Simon and his parents. The only defense for the boy is Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) a burned-out F.B.I agent who despite his short-comings is a tough-as-nails individual who learns Simon is a very special child and soon bonds with him. Along the way and amid the encroaching danger Jeffries receives help from Stacey a coffee shop patron (Kim Dickens) and fellow FBI agent Tommy B. Jordan (Chi McBride) The film is a combination of intrigue, murder and suspense with excitement filling in all the gaps. Willis and Hughes give a heartwarming and endearing performance. Recommended. ****

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.

Mercury Rising is a very conventional "government bad guys" story about evil agents out to kill an autistic boy who can break their top code. Of course, the premise of the movie, that the government would rather kill someone who can break their code rather than fixing the problems with the code, is incredibly stupid. If one boy can break the code, isn't is reasonable that some other boy in Russia or wherever can also break it? If it has a flaw that allows the kid to find the pattern, doesn't it need to be fixed? Of course, not. We just kill the kid and pretend nothing ever happened.

But, what is really sad is that there is a grain of truth in this story. It is the policy of the US Government that TRYING to break codes is illegal. If you are smart enough to figure out that the DVD encryption has a major flaw, it's not the fault of the designers, it's your fault. Researchers who have discovered flaws in codes, watermarks, etc, have been arrested. This "head in the sand" policy has been around for a long time.

So, next time you see this movie, just think how easy it would be to combine this attitude with someone a bit too gung ho.