Firewall Movie Review:


Sometimes you've got to love the Dream Factory. Why? Because it's the only factory that could've produced a movie like “Firewall.” Here's your standard action thriller with all the known ingredients -- a big name star (Harrison Ford) playing a guy whose loving family is held hostage, a sophisticated lead villain (Paul Bettany) and his assortment of murderous henchmen, an elaborate scheme involving much techno-jabberwocky and the infiltration of big banks, and the steady build-up to Payback (yes, with a capital "P").

We're all familiar with this -- the question now is what to really expect. A good movie that flexes the genre? A bad movie so lifeless you'll fall asleep before the climax? Or the old standby favorite -- the movie that's "so bad it's good"? I think we have a winner in the last category with “Firewall.” It's the kind of movie that wears its clichés like bright flowers on a Hawaiian shirt.

This film is truly a refugee from the '80s, when we were high on good old-fashioned revenge. Back then, we could count on one thing for certain -- if the villains messed with our loved ones, they would eventually get their body parts handed back with a clever quip to top it off. Ah, the days when Arnold Schwarzenegger would take out an entire army to save his daughter. And then “Die Hard” came along to show us how it was supposed to be done, and all the righteous action thrillers afterwards could only try to photocopy that success. These movies seemed to peter out after a while, but “Firewall” must've locked itself in a time capsule, waiting until now to emerge.

Still, maybe that isn't the right way to look at this film, since it features an older Ford along with lots of modern high-techiness -- camera cell phones, iPods, internet, and the stretchiest, most imaginative use of GPS in a movie plot ever (oddly, the only thing it's missing is, well, a firewall). It's actually an '80s movie dressed up in new clothes. And this might've worked if “Firewall” wasn't so content with its own restrictive predictability, which shows in the actors -- actors I love like Ford and Bettany, no less -- so how disheartening to see them both go through the motions here. Bettany should make a great villain, but he's given no room to exercise his charms. And Ford spends more time scowling painfully in “Firewall” than Gary Cooper does in “High Noon.”

The movie takes too much of its time revving up to its anticipated finale, but when it gets there, Ford growls as he demands his family's safety, the overactive musical score goes into hyperdrive, and we get an explosion, bullets, blood, and the old reliable hand-to-hand combat. It's all rather hysterical, frankly. However, while no one should go into “Firewall” expecting a good movie, that doesn't mean we're prevented from squeezing out a good time anyway. 

http://www.reeltalkreviews.com

By Jeffrey Chen

Ok, Harrison Ford is 63 and they are still talking about doing another Indiana Jones film. His last film, 2003’s “Hollywood Homicide” was probably the worst film of his career and it has taken him three long years to headline another film.

If you really think about it, it has been six years since Ford has done anything really interesting and that probably was 2000’s “What Lies Beneath” which was quite a good little thriller. And before that was probably 1997’s “Air Force One” which was the last time Ford has done an action film.

The plot for Harrison Ford’s latest film, “Firewall”, loosely revolves around a techno-suave bank robber (Paul Bettany) who breaks into a bank manager’s house and holds his family hostage until the manager digitally removes $100 million dollars from the bank’s richest clients. Ford plays the manager and Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen plays his wife. Some of the key supporting players include Robert Patrick, Robert Forster and Alan Arkin.

From start to finish this film feels like a lot of other movies. The home invasion tactic, the likeable but evil villain, the stalwart hero, the ultra-slick computer gimmickry are all part of what makes this film another run-of-the-mill modern thriller.

Some of the sequences in this film reminded me of the 2004 Robert Redford film, “The Clearing” especially the conflict between Bettany and Ford. I liked the performances of Ford and Bettany but really never felt anything for any of the supporting cast. Because this dynamic never flourished it is hard to say if this thriller succeeded in what it was trying to do.

There have been so many ransom films over the years that “Firewall” just falls among them. It isn’t any worse, good as or better than any of those films. It is just one of them and it is good for what it is.

It is a by-the-book thriller but it sure is nice seeing Ford back to his old tricks as the hero and having a couple nice action scenes even if he’s 63.

(3.5 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

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