Don't Mess with Harrison Ford!

I mean seriously, if you are going to kidnap a guy's family and try to get him to rob a bank for you, pick someone who hasn't been Jack Ryan, Indiana Jones, Han Solo AND the President of the United States.

Although Harrison Ford continues to play tough guy, don't mess with me roles, I have to admit, I never tire of them. Harrison Ford has never disappointed me in a movie that he has made. Firewall is no exception. It's a great Hollywood style Thriller Action film.

The basic Story Jack Stanfield works as the chief of security at a small but successful bank that is now undergoing a merger with a larger even more successful bank. He has a perfect home, nice car, beautiful wife, two children and a dog. Along comes Jack Bettany as one of those British bad guys who is ever so polite, looks nice in a suit, has cold steel blue eyes and will kill Jack's family if he doesn't cooperate in a computer hacking bank robbery. Will Jack be able to save the day and his family? Will the bad guys rob the bank and get away? Or will Jack run off with his attractive secretary and take the money for himself? (O.K. that last idea was never suggested once in the movie, but I thought, "Hey it could be an option"). Overall, the movie is quite predictable and standard Hollywood fare, but there are enough twist, turns and action from scene to scene to keep you interested in what happens next. If you like Harrison Ford, you should enjoy this movie.

Direction/Screenplay The movie was directed by Richard Loncraine, a director I am unfamiliar with. The screen play was by Joe Forte, also unfamiliar to me. However, this is not the first work of either. The best way to describe the direction of the movie is to tell you a brief true story. About half way through the movie, I realized I had drank a bit too much water and needed to use the mens room. Well, I was afraid to go because I didn't want to miss a minute of this action packed thriller. What sudden shift of events would I miss? What turn of events would be lost on me in those precious few minutes outside the theater? What fast paced piece of action would I miss by stepping out? In many movies, one can easily predict a slow scene and time their popcorn and bathroom breaks accordingly, but not this movie. Even though I was fairly sure throughout the movie that the good guys would win, and the bad guys would lose, I had no idea how, or what would transpire to bring about the traditional Hollywood ending I was expecting at the end. All in all, Firewall was a great action thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, eyes riveted to the screen, wondering what would happen next. Most of all, it was fun to watch.

Cinematography The camera doesn't sit still in this film very often. Action scenes are fast paced and real time. The camera work in this movie keeps you focused on the characters and the action, long enough to keep you focused, but quick enough to keep everything tense.

Acting

Harrison Ford Well, as I noted above, Harrison Ford has never disappointed me. Yes, I know he usually plays the same tough guy roles, the serious business guy, the good husband and dad, but the fact is, he plays that role so darn well, that seeing him play it again is no problem. Sure enough, in the beginning, we see he is a serious business man, and a loving Dad and Husband. By the end of the movie, you know darn well that he is a guy that you should not have messed with. Ford has this role down to a science.

Virginia Madsen Sometimes the wife seems to have nothing to do but scream and look worried. Not in this movie. Madsen plays a capable mother in a bad situation, and does it fairly realistically.

Alan Arkin Although Arkin has a very minor role in this movie, I always like to see him in movies. He is aging well, and he plays the president of the bank, and he acts like, well, a bank president.

Robert Forster Forster, like Arkin, has been around for a long time, (he starred in Jackie Brown and has a small part in this film that he makes the most of even with only a few lines.

Paul Bettany The British bad guy, Brian Cox! Paul plays the young brash cocksure mastermind behind this robbery scheme, and plays it well. His blue eyes contain the sort of malicious intent that I have only seen in Cillian Murphy. Although I felt he played the bad guy fairly well, he didn't pull it off quite as well as say, Alan Rickman Diehard You may have seen Bettany before, he was Dr. Nash's imaginary friend in A Beautiful Mind and Dr. Maturin in Master and Commander. I do believe that this was Bettany's first role as a villian and I thought he handled it well. I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of this actor.

Mary Lynn Rajskub plays Janet, Jack's secretary. She plays a small but integral part in the film, and she does a fine job with it.

Summary This is a well done movie. Overall, it presents no real surprises, some scenes are very Hollywood, yet it all works, in large part I believe because of the talented cast. Its a standard Hollywood Action Thriller, but a darn good one that was fun and thrilling to watch.