Mercury Rising
Promotional film poster
Directed by	Harold Becker
Produced by	Brian Graser Karen Kehala
Written by	Novel: Ryne Douglas Pearson Screenplay: Lawrence Konner Mark Rosenthal
Starring	Bruce Willis Alec Baldwin Miko Hughes
Music by	John Barry
Cinematography	Michael Seresin
Editing by	Peter Honess
Release date(s)	1998
Running time	Theatrical: 108 min.
Country	United States
IMDb profile

Mercury Rising is a 1998 action thriller feature film, starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Harold Becker, the movie is based on Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel; originally published as Simple Simon. Bruce Willis plays Art Jeffries, an undercover FBI agent who protects a nine-year-old autistic boy who is the target for assassins after cracking a top secret government code. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 457 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (480 × 630 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ... Harold Becker is a film director and producer from New York. ... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a German-American actor and singer. ... Alec Baldwin (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III on April 3, 1958 in Massapequa, New York) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning and a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... John Barry. ... Peter Honess is an ACE-certified film editor. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... // February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein. ... A reel of film, which predates digital cinematography. ... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a German-American actor and singer. ... Alec Baldwin (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III on April 3, 1958 in Massapequa, New York) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning and a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Harold Becker is a film director and producer from New York. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Look up Undercover in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Autism is a brain development disorder that shows symptoms before a child is three years old and has a steady course with no remission. ... It has been suggested that Selective assassination be merged into this article or section. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Plot

A cryptographic code called "Mercury" was created by The National Security Agency, so complex that its creators believe no computer on earth can decipher it. Originally created during the Reagan Administration as a test to keep the United States' highest priority secrets under wraps, their assumption is revealed to be false when they receive a message from an autistic savant boy named Simon Lynch (Miko Hughes) who calls a telephone number written in the code, which was secretly published in a puzzle magazine by two of the creators to see if anyone could break it. Colonel Kudrow (Alec Baldwin) seeks to silence Simon. Kudrow sends a hit man to murder Simon and his family. In the context of cryptography, a code is a method used to transform a message into an obscured form, preventing those not in on the secret from understanding what is actually transmitted. ... Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander, 16th and current director of the NSA (2005–). The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is the United States governments cryptologic organization that was officially established on November 4, 1952. ... President Reagan, with his Cabinet and staff, in the Oval Office (February 4, 1981) Headed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, the Reagan Administration was conservative, steadfastly anti-Communist and in favor of tax cuts and smaller government. ... An autistic savant (historically described as idiot savant) is a person with both autism and Savant Syndrome. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Alec Baldwin (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III on April 3, 1958 in Massapequa, New York) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning and a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... A hitman (alternately, hit man) is a hired assassin, often by organized crime. ...

After killing the boy's parents, the assassin searches the house, fails to find Simon, and leaves at the sound of approaching sirens. Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) is an undercover FBI agent who protects Simon. He finds Simon hiding in a cache of his bedroom closet and takes the boy under his wing. Jeffries begins to realize the difficulty of protecting, let alone questioning Simon, because of his impaired social abilities as a result of his autism. The situation is further complicated by the fact that nobody at the FBI believes Simon is in any danger. Meanwhile, Colonel Kudrow, upset by disagreement over how to handle the case, murders one of his employees. The murdered employee's friend turns to Jeffries for help, and together they set a trap in which Kudrow is killed. The film ends with Simon being adopted by a new family. Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a German-American actor and singer. ...

Cast

• Bruce Willis as Art Jeffries
• Miko Hughes as Simon Lynch
• Alec Baldwin as Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Kudrow
• Chi McBride as FBI Agent Thomas 'Bizzi' Jordan
• Kim Dickens as Stacey Siebring
• John Carroll Lynch as Martin Lynch
• Kelley Hazen as Jenny Lynch

Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a German-American actor and singer. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Alec Baldwin (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III on April 3, 1958 in Massapequa, New York) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning and a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... Chi McBride (right) on Boston Public Chi McBride (born September 23, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor. ... Kim Dickens as Joanie Stubbs in Deadwood Kim(berly Jan) Dickens, born 18 June 1965 in Huntsville, Alabama, is an American actress and model. ... John Carroll Lynch (born August 1, 1963) is an American actor from Boulder, Colorado. ...

Criticisms

The film received mostly negative reviews from film critics, garnering a 19% approval rating at RottenTomatoes.^[1] Only Miko Hughes's performance as the autistic protagonist was recognized as a positive aspect of the film.^{[citation needed]} Bruce Willis won the 1999 Golden Raspberry for his performance. Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. ... Rotten Tomatoes () is a website devoted to reviews and news of movies and video games. ... The Golden Raspberries or Razzies were created by John Wilson in 1980, intended to complement the Academy Awards by dishonoring the worst acting, screenwriting, songwriting, directing, and films that the film industry had to offer. ...

Box office

The film earned $10,104,715 in its opening weekend in 2,386 theaters. The film grossed $32,935,289 in the United States and $60,172,000 internationally for a total of $93,107,289.

References

is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

External links

• Mercury Rising at the Internet Movie Database
• Box office information