Mercury Falling
Mercury Rising A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1998 By Michael Redman
** (out of ****)
Like every other aspect of human existence, Hollywood prefers to stay with the familiar tried and true. If something works once, it should work again. And again and again. Even if it doesn't succeed after a while, at least it's easier and more comfortable than trying something new.
Of course this leads to failures that feel good. Take a look around. Most people are following this plan as the default arrangement for their lives. "Mercury Rising" is a fine example of how this philosophy functions in the entertainment industry.
FBI agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) is a (gasp!) tough lone wolf. When he's undercover and a hostage situation goes wrong, two teenage boys are shot dead by other agents. This pushes Jeffries further into his self-imposed isolation and the new assignment of baby-sitting a phone tap doesn't help his morale.
His life changes when for some reason unexplained by the film, he is assigned to help Chicago police investigate an apparent murder-suicide. He discovers Simon Lynch (Miko Hughes), the dead couple's autistic nine-year old son, hiding in a crawl space. Before long it's apparent that a hitman was sent to kill the boy.
Simon is a mathematical savant and has decoded a complex cypher in World Of Puzzles magazine. He draws attention to himself by calling a phone number to claim his prize. Unfortunately for him, the phone rings in a NSA (National Security Agency or, as it's referred to in the film, "No Such Agency") office. Their newest project is "Mercury", an unbreakable code designed to protect the identities of double agents around the world.
A couple of computer experts placed the puzzle to check the "geek factor" of the code. Although Simon cannot logically understand it, the hidden message comes to him as he stares at it much like Magic Eye pictures pop into view. He's the only one in the country to solve the enigma.
It doesn't take a psychic to predict that the head of Mercury is a power-hungry politician who will stop at nothing on his rise to power. Lt. Colonel Nicholas Kudrow (Alec Baldwin) decides that the best way to deal with the problem is to eliminate Simon.
When Jeffries learns of the assassination plot, yet another Bruce Willis as the renegade lawman fighting to save the innocent while everyone is trying to kill him adventure gets underway. There is an abundance of shooting, loud noises, speeding trains and close calls. Everything that you've come to expect and everything that you've seen hundreds of times before.
As one of my guilty cinematic pleasures, I usually enjoy Willis' performances. He's one of the best there is at what he does, but even I am beginning to tire of the same old stuff. There are a number of actors that are essentially the same character film after film, but at least people like Clint Eastwood have the wisdom to vary plots. Bruce Willis playing Bruce Willis still works, but it takes a better story than we have here to make it interesting.
Director Harold Becker ("Malice", "Sea Of Love") has filled the movie with scenes that don't make sense. When Jeffries meets shoe-saleswoman Stacy (Kim Dickens) in a cafe, she watches Simon and later lets them spend the night in her apartment although she knows that he's a wanted man. All for no discernible reason. They never make any real connection. She's in deadly danger, yet she's willing to become part of the scheme and we never understand why.
The similarity of Jeffries and Simon holds promise early in the film. Each is cut off from the world: Simon by his autism, Jeffries by his choices. The only exception to his exile is a friendship with fellow agent Tommy Jordan (Chi McBride in the mostly lively performance in the film) which provides the few episodes of personable interactions. As the young boy and his protector spend time together, they grow closer but not by much. Mostly Jeffries drags the screaming boy around. To give the film credit, at least Simon doesn't become magically cured.
Autism is an eerie situation where the person lives mostly internally, relating to the outside world only when forced to. Hughes does a superb and very realistic job of portraying a young boy with the affliction. In real life there is a distance between the autistic and other people. It's difficult to relate to someone who isn't interested. As fine as Hughes is, on the screen the barrier is magnified. There's no getting inside his head. We understand no more about Simon at the end of the film than we did at the beginning.
The rest of the actors are decidedly mediocre. You know what to expect from Willis. Baldwin walks through his role as if he's reading his lines off a teleprompter. Dickens almost becomes real, but doesn't make it. The geeky computer wizes are irritatingly interesting but their characters go nowhere.
The ending is particularly hackneyed. With helicopters fluttering around, Willis and Baldwin engage in a slugfest atop a skyscraper as Simon wanders near the edge and lots of big guns shatter glass in the background. Innovation is not the name of this game.
The title "Mercury Rising" was apparently chosen to impart some sense of heat to this film. I think someone got the wrong weather report.
(Michael Redman has written about films for 23 years and is often willing to throw himself in front of bad movies to protect his loyal readers. Redman@bvoice.com is the electronic connection.)
[This appeared in the 4/23/98 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bvoice.com] -- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman
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