Mercury Rising
Mercury Rising ★★½ 1998 (R)
Renegade FBI agent Art Jeffries (Willis) must protect an autistic child who has inadvertently cracked a secret government code. Together, they dodge bullets from evil government forces headed by Nicholas Kudrow (Baldwin), who insist on having the innocent boy killed rather than change the code. That glaring logic aside, Willis does more than grunt here, showing moments of tenderness as he bonds with the oprhaned boy in between nailing bad guys and amassing an assortment of cuts and bruises. Baldwin is effective as the snake who truly believes killing a child will benefit national security. When action time isn't being sacrificed for Jeffries' paternal aspirations, film rises slightly above tepid to provide substantial thrills. 112m/C VHS, DVD . Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Miko Hughes, Kim Dickens, Chi McBride, Robert Stanton, Peter Stormare, Kevin Conway; D: Harold Becker; W: Larry Konner, Mark Rosenthal; C: Michael Seresin; M: John Barry. Golden Raspberries ‘98: Worst Actor (Willis).