Review of Mercury Rising (1998) by Jeremy C — 30 Dec 2012

Directed by Harold Becker (The Onion Field (1979), Sea of Love (1989) and City Hall (1996)), and adapted from Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel Simple Simon. This is a mindless but sometimes enjoyable action thriller that once again pits an underdog against a corrupt government agency.

But, it also highlights autism, which is seldom portrayed in film, and this is a good portrayal. When 9 year old autistic boy Simon Lynch (Miko Hughes) cracks a code, little does he know the code was created by the National Security Agency, and it's a code called Mercury, protecting the identities of secret agents around the world.

The agency's chief Lt. Colonel Nick Kudrow (Alec Baldwin) wants Simon assassinated, believing he knows too much, only for his parents to be killed. FBI Agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) is assigned to protect Simon, but has trouble connecting with Simon because of his autism, but Art soon learns why Simon's parents were killed, and the Agency won't stop tracking them down, trying to silence Simon.

It doesn't paint a very flattering picture of government agencies who decide to kill people all because they know too much, but Hughes' depiction of autism is accurate, which came from months of research.

Willis is his usual, mugging self while Baldwin is underused as the baddie. Shame.