Simon Lynch (Mercury Rising)

Simon Lynch is a character in the American action film Mercury Rising.

Character creation
The film and character are based on Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel Simple Simon. Bennett Leventhal, chief of child psychiatry at the University of Chicago, served as a consultant for the film. He pushed to change the original title Simple Simon to something stigmatizing. Leventhal also arranged for actor Miko Hughes to meet with an autistic adult, and to visit Keshet Day School in Northbrook. A school scene was also shot on this location, with the actual students.

Biography
Simon cracks a code in a puzzle book that was put there by NSA agents to see if a human could decipher it. This code is used to encrypt information about undercover agents, so when Simon calls the puzzle line in the book and makes the NSA aware of him having deciphered it, a target is put on his head. His parents are taken out but he manages to hide in a crawlspace, where he is found by FBI agent Art Jeffries. Art tries to protect him while also trying to expose the NSA. After a whole lot of Simon being dragged around by Art and multiple altercations with the NSA, their hijinks end after a final confrontation with the NSA. Simon goes to a foster family, and the final scene shows Art going to his school and gifting a puzzle book, after which Simon gives him a hug.

Autism
Simon has savant abilities and manages to crack a code that even supercomputers couldn't decipher. He is also shown to assemble a jigsaw puzzle with the image facing down. He is minimally speaking and often repeats the same phrases. He is very adherent to his routines. He does not like being touched and starts screaming on multiple occasions when Art has to pick him up to get him out of danger. He stims by rocking back and forth.

Reception
The film has received generally negative reviews for being a poor rehashing of action film tropes (government conspiracy and a lone wolf agent). Simon's character has been criticised for being poorly developed and merely serving as a plot device.