Mercury Rising . Tucson Weekly . 04-27-98

Mercury Rising

DIRECTED BY: Harold Becker

REVIEWED: 04-27-98

Looking for something completely unchallenging? Mercury Rising awaits. Not only do Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin play clones of their past roles (as hero and villain, respectively), but the film lifts key elements from such familiar territory as Rain Man, Three Days of the Condor, Witness and War Games. The resulting story has Willis running around trying to prevent the assassination of a hapless Rain Kid who has inadvertently cracked a billion-dollar government code. This nonsense barely holds together, yet the film does supply some small pleasures. The supporting cast of assassins and encryption geeks has amusing moments, Willis shows delightful restraint and Baldwin is thoroughly watchable as blue-eyed evil in a suit. The two leads' few scenes together (during which Willis manages to interrupt one of Baldwin's typically arrogant speeches with a swift kick to the chest) satisfy nicely. Maybe I'm just a sucker for movies with John Barry soundtracks, but Mercury Rising could have been a lot worse.

--Woodruff

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Mercury Rising

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