Mercury Rising Details

Cracking Good Movie

Action Man Bruce Willis strikes again in an unusually well-written action film about an autistic boy who accidentally cracks a national code that cost millions to develop. The question is: is the life of one small autistic boy -"a mistake of nature" - worth so many millions of dollars, and possibly the lives of thousands of American secret agents in enemy countries around the world? Somebody thinks not, and Bruce finds himself bodygaurding an extremely strange and very reluctant target.

A good premise which allows Willis to exercise his acting muscles more than his action ones for a change. However, the long slow burning looks after he takes a lot of punishment are becoming old hat now, and those acting muscles might be getting a little flabby. The same role could have been played by Arnie, Clint, Van Damme or any of the other gung-ho types with equal aplomb.

Disappointing from Willis, some great acting by others in the cast and a strong, tight story.

Enjoyable, but not unforgettable.

Talk about a daft plot. Employees of a US govt agency put their top secret code into a puzzle book to test it, small boy decodes it, cue baddies who spend the rest of the film trying to kill small boy and shell-shocked hero Bruce Willis (who acts very well). All totally bonkers, full of holes. But watchable on its own terms, i.e. don't take it seriously. Bit of a waste of time, though.