Harrison Ford Fights Back (Again)
Seattle-based computer security expert Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is the best at what he does. His employer, fictional Landrock Pacific Bank, trusts him implicitly, his system keeping them free from hackers and internet bandits by employing the latest advances and the most complex technological ingenuity available. This trust has given Jack a great life with a beautiful wife, Beth (Virginia Madsen), two lovely children and a Puget Sound-side home the envy of all who visit.
Everything’s perfect. Perfect, that is, until Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) enters into the security expert’s life. He’s been burrowing deep inside Jack and his family for better part of a year, even going so far as to steal his identity and run up $95,000 worth of fake gambling debts. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Cox is really after Jack’s bank, $100 million of it, and after taking the man’s family hostage the thief is positive the happy father will do anything to help him get to it.
What happens next should come as no surprise to anyone, especially to fans of Ford. Heck, the trailer practically lets you know right away that “Firewall” is really nothing more than “Air Force One” on the ground with a little bit of “Patriot Games” and “The Fugitive” thrown in for good measure. There is nothing new here other than the star is a little bit older and slightly more grizzled, otherwise every beat and every bump are all pieces of a jigsaw puzzle many of us have put together far too many times before.
That doesn’t make it bad, just not particularly memorable. It’s hard get too excited about something when everyone involved looks like they are going through the motions, even if they are going though said motions with relative aplomb. By the end, though, it just doesn’t matter, and even if it is cool it is to see Ford crashing through windows and throwing punches like he was 33 and not 63 it is still difficult to figure out why I should care when the story generating the actions is so insultingly familiar.
I shouldn’t be too harsh. Bettany makes a fine villain and Madsen handles her requisite wife role with far more strength and dignity than the character really deserves. The other supporting players, including Robert Patrick, Alan Arkin and Robert Forester, are all just fine, but it is Ford, of course, that is the real draw and he does not disappoint. He may be older but that certainly doesn’t make him a force any less to be reckoned with. From the first moment he decides to take action against the bad guys a viewer can’t help but want to stand up and cheer, the veteran superstar knowing exactly which buttons to push to get an audience riled up and ready to rumble.
So it’s nice to have him back. He’s frickin’ Indiana Jones and Han Solo for gosh sakes, so having Ford back onscreen kicking butt and taking names right where he belongs is definitely a thing worth celebrating. I just wish there were a concurrent celebration honoring a good movie and not this trifle. Richard Loncraine’s (“Wimbledon”) direction is flat and Joe Forte’s screenplay is uninspired, and while there is undeniable energy to Ford’s central plight that’s pretty much the only energy this thing gets. As much as I hate to say it, “Firewall” isn’t so much bad as it is pointless, and the only thing I can think to do about it is uninstall the program and hope a better one comes Ford’s way for uploading soon.
Film Rating: êê (out of 4)
