*Mercury Rising stars Alec Baldwin & Bruce Willis. The disc begins with a prologue set in South Dakota, which sets the tone for our protagonist Art Jeffries later on. The FBI agent is demoted in the second chapter, and in the third the story shifts to the daily life of nine-year-old autistic Simon Lynch (*Hughes,) before his future is altered by the double murder of his parents -- Martin (*Lynch) and Kelley (*Hazen.)

Essentially, *Mercury Rising is about Art's attempt to help Simon escape from these mercenary killers -- Burrell (*Ginter,) Kudrow (*Baldwin,) and Shayes (*Stormare). Three NSA underlings -- Crandell (*Stanton,) Lang (*Preston,) and Pedranski (*Elfman) -- are also caught in between the killers and the boy, however they are unwilling to cover for their scheming boss and attempt to protect Simon.

Regardless, Simon's perceived by NSA Section Chief Kudrow to be a major career threat, because the boy accidentally deciphered the U.S. Government's top code... Code Mercury... through his natural savant abilities. If someone gets to the boy, or figures him out, the code will fall. Kudrow won't allow that to happen. Improbably, the code was field-tested by Crandell and Pedranski in a mass-market puzzle book to ferret out its 'Geek Factor'.

Cut to chapter nine where Simon hides after his parents are killed by Burrell, avoiding the same fate by creeping into a crawlspace. Jeffries is called directly to the scene by the FBI, and finds the boy hiding silently. A dozen investigators, detectives, and police had already combed through the house and came up empty. Knowing the danger he's in, Jeffries sends Simon to a lockdown unit at Chicago's Concordia Hospital. Upon arriving at the medical center, Jeffries is alarmed by Burrell's security penetration. Burrell has already moved Simon to a more vulnerable ward by posing as a doctor. A shootout in the corridors results, but Art and Simon escape by stealing an ambulance. The pair are then chased by Burrell and Shayes in an SUV until they wreck.

Up against a rock and a hard place, Arthur and his ward have a near mishap on the adjacent train tracks, then are followed by Shayes onto the vehicle they've jumped. The pursuit onboard the tram ends when Jeffries manages to throw Shayes from the speeding coach. Meanwhile, the FBI think Jeffries has kidnapped young Simon from Concordia, and are also pursuing him. Jeffries and his ward find safe harbor at the home of his former partner, and also with Stacey Sebring (*Dickens,) a Chicago saleswoman sidetracked from her routine through a casual bump from Jeffries inside a corner *Starbucks.

Really I shouldn't tell you too much more... except that two of the NSA underlings attempting to help Jeffries and the boy -- end up paying with their lives!

I watch *Mercury Rising at least once a month. For reasons unknown to me, I respond to the story, and I take comfort in the understated performances. Alec Baldwin is a pleasure to watch as the menacing and zealous NSA Section Chief Nicholas Kudrow, who puts major out-of-whack patriotism in front of the life of an innocent child. It's the kind of meaty role that's diametrically opposed to Baldwin's own personal politics, and for that reason all the more bellicose in its power.

As far as *Mercury Rising goes, it's one of the more 'little known gems' in the Willis discography -- and I think Bruce gives as memorable a performance here as the trio he's turned out in Tears of the Sun, The Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable. All of which are, coincidentally, films about a man trying to save a boy. Perhaps some event in the early life of Bruce Willis encourages him to seek out such thematically alike scripts?

Lastly, I can say that Kim Dickens's performance in *Mercury Rising is brief but notable. She's turned up in supporting roles in The Invisible Man, and The Gift since 1998, but she's not being offered as many roles by *Hollywood as she deserves.


(97/114)
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Mercury Rising (1998)
Universal

Directed by Harold Becker.


Cast:
Art Jeffries/Bruce Willis
Nikolas Kudrow/Alec Baldwin
Simon/Miko Hughes
Tommy B. Jordan/Chi McBride
Stacey/Kim Dickens
Dean Crandell/Robert Stanton
Leo Pedranski/Bodhi Pine Elfman
Emily Lang/Carrie Preston
Burrell/L.L. Ginter
Shayes/Peter Stormare
Lomax/Kevin Conway
Martin Lynch/John Carroll Lynch
Jenny Lynch/Kelley Hazen
Supervisor Hartley/John Doman
Dr. London/Camryn Mannheim
Detective Nichols/Jack Conley
Autism Expert Nurse/Margaret Travolta


DVD Chapters:
01. The Inside Man
02. Out-of-Line
03. Simon
04. The Magic’s Gone
05. The Puzzle
06. Mercury Is Falling
07. The Nine-Year-Old Threat
08. The Compromised Killing
09. A Missing Kid
10. Simon And The Stranger
11. Ultimately Responsible
12. The New Doctor
13. The Ambulance Chasers
14. Between Trains
15. Strangers On A Train
16. Tommy’s House
17. Nobody’s Kid
18. Simon Is Going Home
19. The Untraceable Number
20. E=MC2
21. The Baby-Sitter
22. To Protect The Code
23. Simon’s New Friend
24. In Over Our Heads
25. A Place To Stay
26. His Last Will And Testament
27. A Deal For The Patriot
28. The Takeover
29. Changes In Plan
30. On The Edge
31. The Fallen Patriot
32. A Friend of Simon Lynch
33. End Titles


Official Website:
http://www.universalstudios.com/home


Disc is Captioned for the Hearing Impaired, has Cast & Filmmaker Bios, French & Spanish Language Tracks, Production Notes, Spanish Subtitles, the Theatrical Trailer, and Web Links from Universal.






Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older