I haven't read the novel that this is based upon. In fact, I didn't know there was one. This happened to be on TV, I had no set in stone plans, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm honestly not sure why this is rated so low. Sure, there are some clichés. Yes, the idea of the government putting out a hit(with rather sloppy killers, at that) on a kid for a code is silly(besides, what if another one cracks it? How high a body-count is acceptable, exactly?). Look past those aspects. I haven't watched anything else by this director except for Malice, which was also a nice piece of work. This is put together quite well, with the editing and cinematography building tension and doing a decent job of conveying Simon's "ability". I've had experiences with Autistic people of different ages and varied severity of condition, and the depiction here is convincing and fairly respectful(do note that far from all who have the syndrome are as distant and/or helpless on their own as seen here), and this serves to explain and demystify it a tad(certainly more than I remember Rain Man doing). Miko researched for his role, and he does a great job. Willis is good(when isn't he?), and they do well together. Baldwin is as delightfully detestable as we know he can be. There is a nice amount of talent in the cast, if not all of it is allowed to shine. Granted, there could be more action. There is a little brutal, bloody violence in this. I recommend this to fans of thrillers. 6/10
Review of Mercury Rising
