Based on his new movie “Firewall,” the answer is a mix of yes and no. He is certainly still capable of throwing down with bad guys (literally) half his age, and any wrinkles he has only enhance the obligatory smirks and snarls that come with the territory.
Where his years betray him is in his attempts to convincingly play a man even close to middle age. How old does Ford look in this film? Well, let’s put it this way: craggy film vets Robert Forster and Alan Arkin were cast as his superiors at work, likely in an attempt to make him appear younger by comparison.
And, while it’s certainly plausible for Harrison to be partnered with his on-screen wife Virginia Madsen (Connery would’ve gotten Jessica Biel), the idea that they have two children both under driving age is somewhat ridiculous. Ford does score points for not wearing his earring in the film, however the goofy schoolboy haircut has got to go.
Still, in “Firewall” Tousle-Head Ford plays Jack Stanfield, the IT Director for a local Seattle banking chain, and father of two precocious children. Jack is a really decent guy, both at home and at work. He’s vigilant at the office: watching after other people’s savings, and towing the company line. And, he always calls the family when he’ll be late for pizza night.
Trouble comes calling one night though, as Mom, the kids, and Rusty the dog are all taken hostage by a gang of high-tech bank robbers, led by Paul Bettany as a kind of British art school criminal. Were it thirty years ago, this guy would be fronting a Clash cover band - but alas it’s 2006, and he’s stuck helming a crew of cyber-flunkies. Their plan is to force Jack into hacking into his own system to steal $100 million; ergo, they are holding his family as collateral.
Unfortunately, most of the significant problems with “Firewall” deal almost directly with the villains; no offense to Bettany and his mates- they do the best they can with the material presented to them. However, films like this one ultimately succeed or fail based on the caliber of the bad guys, and this crew just isn’t up to snuff.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW:
How do you know when your action movie villains leave something to be desired? When their primary objective is nullified because they didn’t realize key equipment has been shipped out of state, you’ve got bad villains. When their secret hideout is revealed because they moved the family dog along with the rest of the hostages, you’ve got bad villains. When the kidnapping scheme is nearly thwarted by an RC car, you’ve got bad villains. When the lead hostage taker kills more of his own team than the hero, you’ve got bad villains.
In a caper flick like “Ocean’s 11” (where the protagonists are the ones pulling off the robbery), roadblocks and improvisations can be powerful dramatic devices. Showing the good guys overcoming obstacles makes them seem clever and increases the films tension level. In “Firewall,” having the villainous robbers act incompetently actually siphons tension from the movie. In the end, everyone should realize that Ford is going to come out on top, which means the bad guys need to be top-form foes in order to build up suspense for the climax.
Here, thanks to the poor scripting of the villains, there is no doubt about the outcome: Ford will win, the kidnappers will lose, and the audience will be bored. In the end it’s the story, not Ford, that’s really over the hill.
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