Mercury Rising received a poor reception, a fate that movies of mixed genre's often received. Audiences came in expecting an action movie, and what they found was a heartwarming film about autism.
The plot of Mercury Rising is almost laughably thin. An autistic child sees through a top secret code, and the government decides to kill him. Enter the rogue FBI agent(Bruce Willis) with the heart of gold, and watch the testosterone take over. A plot like this is something usually associated with Steven Seagal.
The salvation to this movie is the relationship between Simon Lynch(Miko Hughes), the autistic child, and Willis redeems the movie. Without falling prey to the temptation to preach on autism, it sketchs an accurate picture of the illness. Hughes' performance is heartbreaking and accurate.
Alec Baldwin maintains the movies tension with a chilling performance as an NSA agent who makes the decision to kill Simon. Baldwin revels in the role of villain, pulling out every acting chop he has to make this role believable.
Director Harold Becker manages to propel this movie beyond its thin plot, riding on the backs of the incredible talent within the movie.
The plot of Mercury Rising is almost laughably thin. An autistic child sees through a top secret code, and the government decides to kill him. Enter the rogue FBI agent(Bruce Willis) with the heart of gold, and watch the testosterone take over. A plot like this is something usually associated with Steven Seagal.
The salvation to this movie is the relationship between Simon Lynch(Miko Hughes), the autistic child, and Willis redeems the movie. Without falling prey to the temptation to preach on autism, it sketchs an accurate picture of the illness. Hughes' performance is heartbreaking and accurate.
Alec Baldwin maintains the movies tension with a chilling performance as an NSA agent who makes the decision to kill Simon. Baldwin revels in the role of villain, pulling out every acting chop he has to make this role believable.
Director Harold Becker manages to propel this movie beyond its thin plot, riding on the backs of the incredible talent within the movie.