Mercury Rising

A solid ‘90s thriller, Mercury Rising follows grizzled FBI agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) as he reluctantly begins protecting an autistic boy (Miko Hughes’ Simon) who cracked a seemingly impenetrable NSA code. (Alec Baldwin delivers an enjoyable smarmy turn as the decidedly evil head of the NSA.) Filmmaker Harold Becker does an effective job of immediately grabbing the viewer’s interest and attention, as Mercury Rising kicks off with precisely the sort of sequence that once defined movies of this ilk – with the movie’s first scene devoted to the violent end of Art’s undercover work among bank robbers. From there, the picture segues into a fairly standard yet generally engaging narrative revolving around Art’s ongoing efforts at both protecting Simon and figuring out why he’s a target – with the entertaining atmosphere enhanced by an ongoing emphasis on better-than-average action sequences. (There is, for example, a fantastic mid-movie shootout/chase in a hospital.) And although the film’s overall effectiveness is hampered by a palpably overlong running time, Mercury Rising, which climaxes with a genuinely thrilling finale, ultimately comes off as a better-than-expected endeavor that’s anchored by an impressively compelling Willis performance.

*** out of ****