Rating: 
Summary: Autism and Encryption. Bruce Willis as partially human.
Review: No doubt underdeveloped and that's a shame because this movie had true potential for being an exquisite story. Hollywood might be surprised what a large audience it could hook with more in-depth characters, less violence and deeper development of themes. Nevertheless, I found this movie taking a hopeful prototypical step away from the tidal wave of macho-action-violence sans substance films that we have endured ad nauseum. The theme of autism was handled superficially, leaving the viewer with too little information, but the highly structured life-style, the eternal sidelong glance and the savant quality of the autistic boy were certainly intriging aspects in the movie. The beginning of a relationship between Bruce Willis and the boy was also a meaningful element which speaks to a potential in autistic individuals rarely recognized. In addition, a reader of the book, SIMPLE SIMON, upon which this movie is based, writes an enlightening review about encryption and the powers of the U.S. government which may be accessed at the Amazon site for this book. It would be nice to know if Hollywood is ever listening. Good storytelling can be extremely satisfying for the audience; without total formulaic stereotyping and without losing dollars. Perhaps the makers of MERCURY RISING might take another small step toward good story telling with their next movie by developing the themes and characters equally well as the action and violence.
Rating: 
Summary: A great concept, utterly defanged of any real meaning
Review: There was an article about a script writer's journey in getting his picture made. I sympathize with the guy. He was down on his luck, his rent was three months overdue, and his wife was getting seriously pissed off. The plot of his script was simple. It was about an autistic boy named Simon who can read the secret codes embedded in crossword puzzles. In other words, he took a common urban myth and wrote a script about it. Not original, but certainly compelling. Add Bruce Willis to the mix and you have a big budget movie. Then one day, his agent called. He was nervous. A major studio was offering a six figure number for the movie. When other movie studios heard about it, a war of escalation ensued. Soon, they were trying to outbid each other. The price kept climbing and climbing and climbing. Finally, the agent had enough. The script was sold. Presumably, the scriptwriter got to stay married and pay off his rent. And, I hope, socked the money away into savings. Because this movie sucks. The movie went through several title changes, a sure sign that there's a problem. It was originally supposed to be Simon Says, but the execs changed it because nobody knew what that meant. So they changed it to Mercury Rising instead. As Dr. Evil would say, "Riiiight." There's a few problems. One of them is translating onto screen the depiction of code. Apparently, the movie decides code decryption sounds like a high-pitched whining sound. Perhaps it's an accurate parallel, but it's not fun to listen to. Simon's autism is depicted a little too accurately. His parents are killed early on, so Simon's on his own and fairly incapable of doing much besides wailing his head off when touched. This is very accurate. This does not make for a pleasant movie. Willis' character is the usual -- haggard, determined, violent. He isn't much more than that. He gets tangled up in the plot (FBI vs. "Government Bad Guys") and calls in favors. The bad guys show a distinct lack of common sense. It's so blithly nonsensical that it's not even worth the energy to describe the inconsistencies. Suffice it to say, the bad guys show a boogeyman-like ability to pop up anywhere when convenient, and a surprising inability to do it when it might impair the protagonist. What bugged me most is that ultimately, this movie could have been about ANYBODY who happened to know Something Secret (TM). It wasn't about the boy's ability to crack code, it was about Bruce Willis' character protecting an innocent. Like in Eraser. Like in Enemy of the State. Like in a dozen other movies. Only in Enemy of the State, the main character's skills actually were USEFUL in the plot. Simon never gets to exercise his code-cracking abilities more than once (to meet one of the soon-to-be-dead informants). Even in portraying an autistic person, Rain Man and Cube still managed to make the character worth liking instead of utterly pathetic. The other problem is that the villain's execuse is -- *GASP! -- being a patriot to protect undercover agents in Iraq. Well, that dates the movie just a little bit. Not their fault, necessarily, but certainly the movie loses its sting. In addition, the whole concept of "sacrificing one for the good of all" is a little more strict these days. Ask an American if an autistic boy's life should be spared to save thousands of agents attempting to stop terrorism and more than half will doom the boy. I can understand why the studio execs bid on the idea. It was a great concept but utterly defanged of any real meaning, failing to utilize its characters, its high-minded ideals, or even its action scenes in a way that makes us care about anybody in the movie. Yes, even an autistic little boy.
Rating:
Summary: LOW BLOOD PRESSURE
Review: Bruce Willis returns in the role of a loose cannon, demoted by the FBI after a hostage situation goes tragically awry. Willis is great in these kind of roles, eliciting both a strong macho appearance, but with an inner sensitivity that evades other actors. Willis' scenes with Miko Hughes as the autistic Simon are the highlights of the film, as is the supporting performances by Chi McBride as Willis' buddy and Kim Dickens as a young lady who gets involved in the situation. Alec Baldwin is smarmy again as the villainous NSA director. The main problem I found with this picture is director Harold Becker's meandering pacing and inability to maintain a tight level of suspense. The climax is great, but wading through some really slow scenes hurts it overall.
Not a great film, but a good one.
Rating:
Summary: Bruce Against the Evil Agents
Review: This adventure film is based on the assumption that a state-of-the-art encrypted message could be read by an autistic nine year old! It is another film that is full of sound and fury. There is Alec Baldwin playing a reactionary Govt. agent who is out to kill this autistic child and his parents. Bruce Willis plays the bleeding-heart liberal out to save the world, one child at a time. Hollywood tells the truth. The film opens with a botched bank robbery in "South Dakota", of all places. Undercover agent Bruce pleads for more time so he can save two teen aged boys. This fails, and they are killed resisting arrest. (Could an agent really get this deeply involved?) [Does this allow latecomers to take seats and not miss anything?] Next comes the main plot. The autistic boy reads a puzzle magazine, and solves it in his head! This causes the murder of his parents, and the boy's narrow escape. The Chicago police are called, and Bruce gets his assignment: cover this case. He finds the hidden boy, takes him to a hospital. Now Bruce figures out that the boy is a target, and the rest of the story is how he tries to keep him alive until the happy ending. The assassination of a code clerk on a busy street reminds me of Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" or similar replicated scenes. The tale of "rogue agents out of control" was disproved by the Watergate hearings. These agents are never "out of control" until they're caught. Andrew Jackson said that government was not a necessary evil, only its abuses were evil. Is this still true?
Rating: 
Summary: Actually 3.5 Stars... but worth watching!
Review: Ok here we go. The bad guys are Balwin and a top secret government agency which has an encrypted code for all its agents called Mercury Rising. Well lo and behold a 9 year old Autistic boy breaks this code which was in a puzzle magazine as a test for code breaking geeks. Ummm, somehow this sounds dumber than it really is. Enter now the renegade FBI agent Willis, who somehow gets assigned to investigate the boy's parents murder. (Who were murdered by Baldwin's top secret government agency). Now that is the setting for the clashes which follow. Willis kidnaps the boy to save him from being killed. And then a all too nice of a lady Kim Dickens (who is very cute by the way)befriends Willis, :), and the Boy and helps Willis protect him. Actually Willis (A stranger) shows up at her apt. at 2am and she lets him in. Umm,? There are some very good action scenes. Great 5.1 DD sound in a few places. Overall a relatively good flick. I think Baldwin, Willis and Dickens do a good job. The 9 year old boy came across pretty credible also. Just lean back, relax and enjoy and you won't be disappointed. 3.5 STARS.
Rating:
Summary: the boy knows all
Review: one of Willis' softer more gentler side as he trys to save a young boys life from the evil clutches of the menacing Alec Baldwin. some lagin parts but its picked up by Willis' care for the kid and the ending where Baldwin flys and soars to the bottom off the building. suspense and plot take good aim here
Rating: 
Summary: Do you like puzzles?
Review: Very good job of an exciting and different thriller. OK the kid is annoying at times, but the movie really is great. See it!
Rating:
Summary: Predictable but well made action thriller
Review: There is nothing very new about Mercury Rising but the standard ingredients are well assembled and the end product is professional and enjoyable.
Willis plays a maverick FBI agent who blames the trigger-happiness of his superiors for the failure of an undercover mission he was involved with .This involved infiltrating a survivalist group ,and ended in the avoidable deaths of the leader's teenaged boys .For his violent reaction Willis is downgraded from undercover work to routine surveillance jobs.He is called to the scene of a shooting in a quiet Chicago suburb -a man and wife callously shot ,by what we know are NSA agents.The prime target was their 9 year old autistic son ,Simon ,who has unknowingly cracked a code ,"Mercury "that guarantees the safety of several key undercover US agents in the Middle East.The head of NSA -played with the right cold eyed precision by Alec Baldwin-has ordered the death of the child.
Willis goes on the run with the child and the movie revolves around his attempts to protect the boy ,and expose the forces hunting him down. The action that folows is predictable to an extent --car chases,rooftop shootouts and narrow escapes but it is done well and the role represents an interesting softening of the hard man Willis image in his concern for the child .More could have bben made of the autism angle but I recommend the movie for those in search of a proficient thriller which nicely balances humanity with swift and compelling action It is better than its critical reputation suggests it will be.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: I guess I'm not an intellectual, but I love it! It's one of those movies that I can watch over and over again (and have). While the action plot may not be that original, the acting and personal side of the story line captured me. I like the scenes that show how the different adults in the boy's life care for him and accommodate his disability and, also, how that plays into the suspense side of the story. I also love the scene in the wine cellar! Plausibility, shmausibility - if you just want to watch an entertaining and captivating movie without too much analysis, try this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic thriller(2 1/2 stars)
Review: Mercury Rising is by no means a difficult film to watch, but for the intellectual veiwer there is little plausibilty or suspense in its foolish, by-the-numbers plot. Bruce Willis certainly doesn't deserve his usual 20m pay check for wearing jeans and being macho for two hours. He simply doesn't convince as a maverick FBI agent assigned to protect an autistic child from government agents, failing to bring any sensitivity to his ludicrous role. Unlike Raymond Babbit in Rain Man, the autistic child cannot communicate at all but much of what else he does is clearly drawn from that character. He shouts when he gets nervous and mutters things to himself, only here it is far less convincing. The dialogue is sometimes hackneyed while the direction is disappointingly low-key. The film feels like an episode from a tv cop drama and could easily be trimmed down from its 2 hour running time to half that amount.
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