"Mercury rising" has connotations of the heat being turned up...but I`m no physicist so what would I know...In Harold Becker`s latest film starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin we`re introduced to the possibility that an autistic child Simon - Mico Hughes - clicks into the latest, most sophisticated communications security system the United States has yet devised...some security system...Art Jeffries - Bruce Willis - is an FBI agent on the out - he wanted to put blame where blame was due and so obviously he`s got delusional paranoia - desk duty beckons this undercvover agent who hangs on and gets involved in finding and protecting Simon after his parents are murdered.... Mercury Rising proves that story story story is the secret of this sort of film ... sure there`s action, sure there`s terrific cinematography and editing and some impressive direction, but if the blueprint isn`t there in the screenplay, the movie isn`t, in the long run, going to go the distance. What we`re asked to swallow in the first place is ludicrous - that this top secret code is actually published in a puzzle magazine just to test the geek effect? puhleese!. Add to that the absolute minimisation of tension because you already know who the villain is you also know how ineffectual he and his minions actually are. Yes, you can say that young and very experienced Mico Hughes gives a convincing performance as does Bruce Willis - but if everything around them is unconvincing, what does it matter? I must admit I was underwhelmed by Mercury Rising - in fact the temperature actually sank.
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