Mercure à la hausse

Mercury Rising is far from a masterpiece, the ending is choppy and the script has its weak spots. But it was the plot that was the main problem, despite its intriguing idea it is not only very thin and routine but some of it doesn't always make sense. However, the cinematography and editing are great, and there are enough tension and thrills to make up for the heavily flawed plot-line. The film is well-directed too, and the music has atmosphere while not being intrusive. The acting is fine, Bruce Willis is good in his role and his chemistry with Hughes feels natural, and Alec Baldwin is very chilling and detestable, but it is Miko Hughes who is excellent as the autistic child who carries the movie (being autistic myself I could relate to him). Overall, flawed but a decent film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Mercury Rising, was a loved/hated movie for quite a few viewers, especially the critics who were unapologetic in delivering a 'Razzie' award to Bruce for three films, that he was a part of in that same year. pretty harsh, well for one I feel that Bruce Willis always brings something controversial to any project he does...himself. Mercury Rising, I was happy with and entertained, which was what this government cover-up story was all about. As the sort of troubled outcast on somewhat good-terms Willis is a master. This is a lock-fit for him, he does it so well and on the other hand he slips out and accomplishes other performances with just the same skill. I.e. "The Sixth Sense" (1999) creepy-good story that he brings that Ole' Willis insight to and gives a leveled measure of believable acting that makes you say "Wow". This given, I liked the original working title to the film, Mercury Falling would have worked well too. The autistic boy, (Miko ) is really outstanding at bringing in the over/under balanced brain of Autism to understated believability. He brought that character to it's living end. That is impressive for such young actors to have so much meddle that they can use in their craft. Then there is the one who makes 'hating heavies' a way of life, Alec Baldwin, who always can appear meaner that a bull- rattle snake. His F.B.I man is as solid and scary {as the I would think} the real mean ones come. All in all fairness, this lacked totally connecting everything for a perfect film, but if you watch it uninterrupted and settle in to enjoy what this is, you should get a lot of story entertainment out of it, no problem. There is a lot of garbage made these days, and it is refreshing to see a story that you can watch and take something else away, the next viewing as well.

Bruce has the juice...(****) Recommended for Willis fans, but not limited to.

This movie has one huge problem: *its basic premise makes no sense at all*. Killing the kid is in absolutely nobody's interest. His codebreaking skill would be of immeasurable value to the very people who are trying to kill him, while safeguarding the code without killing him would be fairly straightforward. This is so obvious that it essentially ruins the whole movie.

The rest of the movie is OK if you ignore that problem. The performances are generally good, and Miko Hughes is excellent as Simon. There is nothing here you haven't seen a dozen times before, but it's generally well done. It's not worth making any real effort to see this movie, but you probably won't have a bad time if you do.

There are two great acting performances in this film. Bruce Willis plays Art Jeffries, an FBI agent with attitude. Miko Hughes plays Simon Lynch, an autistic savant with a gift for codebreaking. Both are believable but Miko Hughes is astonishing – one of the best ever screen performances by a child. The scenes between the pair of them are really touching and you can believe that Willis really likes kids. Perhaps he does.

The US government's pursuit of Lynch in this film may at first appear overly far-fetched and scaremongering. Then you remember the US attitude towards the British savant, Gary McKinnon, who was accused of perpetrating the biggest military computer hack of all time by hacking into 97 US military and NASA computers in 2002. Well, they didn't kill his mum and dad, and hunt him like an animal. But after 10 years of attempted extradition, and speculation of a 70-year jail term, maybe this story is just an exaggeration of reality, and not quite as ridiculous as some commentators have suggested.

It's not really a downside but if you come to this film expecting a shoot-em-up action movie, you may be disappointed. It's much more than that and consequently slower – it's a touching drama with action scenes, and so we can forgive, just about, the pace through the middle of the film. The writing is actually very good and Pearson, Konner and Rosenthal all deserve credit.

I did find the score a bit distracting. Sort of 'too big' and too 'James Bond' for the film. Scenes without music were better. Though the music being played at the club Jeffries visits was really good and I would have liked to have heard more of Koko Taylor (now no longer with us) belting out some blues.

I was finding it difficult to see where this film was going. When Wills is with a kid, like in 16 blocks or Die Hard 4, you expect a visible end point, and there wasn't one. There was a sense of going around in circles. Until the last 5 minutes. Ultimately that cost it a couple of stars and the score lost another one. So seven out of ten for this.

i watched this movie as it was being shown on TV. this was a really good movie.

I've always been a fan of Bruce Willis and i found his skill in his role in the movie as great as he has always been. it seems to me he works well with kids and you can see it done in this movie when he has to constantly look out for a child with autism named Simon (Miko Hughes).

Miko Hughes was an extremely convincing actor does a good job.

what happens to Simon's family because he could crack a new governmental code is sad...and also the fact the government are set out to kill him instead of fixing the problem.