Film Snail

6.3

Mercury Rising

R·1998·111m

Action

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Action

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Summary

Renegade FBI agent Art Jeffries protects a nine-year-old autistic boy who has cracked the government's new "unbreakable" code.

Cast

Bruce Willis

Art Jeffries

Alec Baldwin

Nicholas Kudrow

Miko Hughes

Simon Lynch

Chi McBride

Tommy B. Jordan

Kim Dickens

Stacey

Robert Stanton

Dean Crandell

Bodhi Elfman

Leo Pedranski

Carrie Preston

Emily Lang

Lindsey Ginter

Peter Burrell

Peter Stormare

Shayes

Kevin Conway

Lomax

John Carroll Lynch

Martin Lynch

Kelley Hazen

Jenny Lynch

John Doman

Supervisor Hartley

Richard Riehle

Edgar Halstrom

Chad Lindberg

James

Hank Harris

Isaac

Camryn Manheim

Dr. London

Jack Conley

Detective Nichols

Maricela Ochoa

Charlayne

Peter Fontana

Pasquale, Bus Driver

Kirk B.R. Woller

Lieutenant

James MacDonald

SWAT Team Leader Francis

Gwen McGee

Security Woman

Ned Schmidtke

Senator

Betsy Brantley

Special Ed Teacher #2

Ashley Knutson

Samantha

Margaret Travolta

Autism Expert Nurse

Tiffany Fraser

Night Nurse

Koko Taylor

Self

Tom Gallop

Medic

Matt Levert

Tommy Jordan Jr.

James Krag

Rookie Agent Roger

Wadell Brown

Bank Security Guard

Tim Grimm

Ted - Security Guard

John T. Scanlon

South Dakota Helicopter Pilot

Lisa Summerour

Dana Jordan

Barbara Alexander

Librarian

Annabel Armour

Ruth

Brent Freeman

Marine Guard

Gary Hand

Kudrow's Assistant

Darryl Alan Reed

Ambulance Driver

Steve Rankin

WGEX Helicopter Pilot

Mark Collins

Train Conductor

Kim Robillard

Motorman

Maureen Gallagher

Flea Market Lady

Denise Woods

Nurse in Elevator

Jude Ciccolella

FBI Agent Blackwell (uncredited)

Thomas F. Duffy

Audey (uncredited)

Deborah Leydig

(uncredited)

Shannon Parr

Leslie Turpel (uncredited)

Pamela Gaye Walker

Susan (uncredited)

Robert Maffia

FBI Agent Leeb (uncredited)

Spitfire Brown

Security Guard (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Harold Becker

Novel

Ryne Douglas Pearson

Screenplay

Lawrence Konner

Screenplay

Mark Rosenthal

Reviews

Geronimo1967

August 28, 2023

I'd have to admit that at the start - however politically incorrect it is to say - I though that the mix of Bruce Willis as an independently minded FBI agent and Miko Hughes ("Simon") as a boy genius with very loud, and annoying, autism was going to be a difficult film to sit through. Luckily, the initial in-your-face character establishment settles down and the somewhat preposterous plot takes over quite quickly. The US Government runs a competition to see whether anyone can decipher it's supposedly unbreakable "Mercury" code and young Mr. Hughes is genuinely convincing as the young lad who can break it just by looking at the thing. When he calls in to claim his prize, all hell breaks loose and soon he and Willis are dodging the NSA and the FBI as they try to get to the bottom of this rather far-fetched, but entertaining conspiracy. This is of those films that reminds you why Willis became a star in the first place; he was never the greatest actor to take to the big screen, but he has bags of charisma and here he uses it to full effect. He and his charge bond well - given the youngster has precious little salient dialogue; and it is action-packed enough to pass the two hours in a satisfactory way. I am never sure why Alec Baldwin is cast at all - he is really a terribly wooden actor, though here he is given a run for his money by the equally stolid Chi McBride as Willis' FBI chum. It's nowhere near as bad as some people seem to think...