crpanda-niranjan
The movie has a great story line with no excessive action unlike modern movies!! A good watch and must see.
view_and_review
A nine-year-old autistic boy solves a complex encryption code called "Mercury". That sets off a chain of secretive and seedy events to cover up that discovery.The premise of the movie was awesome but its approach and execution was comical. What's the surest way to keep secret the fact that a multi-billion dollar program was undermined by a nine-year-old autistic boy? Kill him of course. That's where the movie went "left"--to use the words of rap mogul and world class buffoon, Birdman.This movie was a wave of rampant executions in order to keep an expensive program alive. One-by-one people ended up dead even if they had the remotest affiliation with "Mercury" and their deaths weren't particularly imaginative or covered up. I really think the writers lacked creativity. This movie could've been so much better had the powers-that-be gone about everything differently-- meaning intelligently. But such is Hollywood most times, they prefer style over substance.
David Love
There are two great acting performances in this film. Bruce Willis plays Art Jeffries, an FBI agent with attitude. Miko Hughes plays Simon Lynch, an autistic savant with a gift for codebreaking. Both are believable but Miko Hughes is astonishing – one of the best ever screen performances by a child. The scenes between the pair of them are really touching and you can believe that Willis really likes kids. Perhaps he does.The US government's pursuit of Lynch in this film may at first appear overly far-fetched and scaremongering. Then you remember the US attitude towards the British savant, Gary McKinnon, who was accused of perpetrating the biggest military computer hack of all time by hacking into 97 US military and NASA computers in 2002. Well, they didn't kill his mum and dad, and hunt him like an animal. But after 10 years of attempted extradition, and speculation of a 70-year jail term, maybe this story is just an exaggeration of reality, and not quite as ridiculous as some commentators have suggested.It's not really a downside but if you come to this film expecting a shoot-em-up action movie, you may be disappointed. It's much more than that and consequently slower – it's a touching drama with action scenes, and so we can forgive, just about, the pace through the middle of the film. The writing is actually very good and Pearson, Konner and Rosenthal all deserve credit.I did find the score a bit distracting. Sort of 'too big' and too 'James Bond' for the film. Scenes without music were better. Though the music being played at the club Jeffries visits was really good and I would have liked to have heard more of Koko Taylor (now no longer with us) belting out some blues.I was finding it difficult to see where this film was going. When Wills is with a kid, like in 16 blocks or Die Hard 4, you expect a visible end point, and there wasn't one. There was a sense of going around in circles. Until the last 5 minutes. Ultimately that cost it a couple of stars and the score lost another one. So seven out of ten for this.
Robert W.
This was Bruce Willis at his finest. Although Mercury Rising was financially not well received, the film is a terrific thriller, solid acting, great story and just all around entertaining! One reviewer said this was more of a drama about autism and that's ludicrous. This is a thriller about a young boy who happens to have autism but to call this a drama or about autism at all is misleading. The film is part mystery, part thriller, part action and will entertain from beginning to end. Powerful performances from the lead cast make it worthwhile and riveting.Bruce Willis plays Art Jeffries and does a great job doing what he does best. No this isn't an award worthy performance or anything outstanding for Willis but he still carries the film well and Willis fans, like myself, will remember this. The star and stand out performance of this film is Miko Hughes who brilliantly plays autistic puzzle solver Simon. His performance is award worthy and I've always remembered it as one of my favorite performances. His chemistry with Willis is brilliant. Robert Stanton deserves mention in a small but pivotal role that I really enjoyed him in. Same could be said for Chi McBride who also does a good job. Alec Baldwin is good in his role as the villain. I would have liked a little more chemistry between him and Willis and I don't think he was outstanding in his role but he was definitely good. Kim Dickens is the female lead in the film and she does alright although I found her character very one dimensional for the most part.Harold Becker's direction is perhaps a little bland from time to time. It is true what some reviewers say that the film could have used just a little more action and some of the performances felt dry at times from Baldwin and Dickens, who are important to the entire film in many ways. Still the concept for the film is riveting and the story is delivered in a well paced, entertaining fashion. Anyone looking for a good thriller will not be steered wrong with this film. Its a movie that I watch from time to time again and again because I've always thought it was a great movie. Plenty of thrills, plenty of edge of your seat moments and a terrific performance from Hughes. 8.5/10
AD
