Mercury Rising
Mercury Rising is a 1998 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Harold Becker, the film is based on Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel originally published as Simple Simon, which was the working title of the film. Willis plays Art Jeffries, an undercover FBI agent who protects a nine-year-old autistic boy, Simon Lynch (played by Miko Hughes), who is targeted by government assassins after he cracks a top secret government code.
Plot
The film opens with a bank robbery hostage crisis in South Dakota. Undercover as one of the criminals, FBI agent Art Jeffries guards fourteen year old James while trying to convince the gang’s leader, Edgar Halstrom, to surrender. Despite pleading for more time to negotiate, an armed FBI task force storms the building, fatally shooting both James and the thieves. Art confronts his superior Hartley, punching him when the latter says they must answer to Washington. As a result of his outburst, Jeffries is demoted to desk duty.
Cast
- Alec Baldwin
- Betsy Brantley
- Bodhi Elfman
- Bruce Willis
- Camryn Manheim
- Carrie Preston
- Chad Lindberg
- Chi McBride
- Hank Harris
- Jack Conley
- James MacDonald
- John Carroll Lynch
- John Doman
- Jude Ciccolella
- Kevin Conway
- Kim Dickens
- Lindsey Ginter
- Margaret Travolta
- Miko Hughes
- Peter Stormare
- Richard Riehle
- Robert Stanton
- Steve Rankin
More details
| author | Lawrence Konner Mark Rosenthal |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Chicago South Dakota |
| director | Harold Becker |
| editor | Peter Honess |
| events | autism |
| genre | action crime political thriller |
| keywords | 9-1-1 911 autistic savant bank robbery birthday party build coffee shop crime scene fbi agent foster parents getaway driver kill meet morning national security police detective shoot special agent summary execution task force terminate wash wine cellar witness protection write |
| musicBy | John Barry |
| producer | Brian Grazer Karen Kehela |
| productionCompany | Imagine Entertainment |
| publisher | Universal Pictures |
| recordedAt | Chicago |
| theme | political thriller |