 |
 |
The lethal cat-and-mouse game in Firewall is familiar territory for Harrison Ford.
He's played this game before in such thrillers as Frantic, Patriot Games and especially Air Force One.
Once again Ford is cast as a man who must summon up all his physical, emotional and mental resources to thwart evil thugs holding his family hostage.
There's no question Ford has become a master at portraying the mounting desperation such a man endures. This is the dramatic Ford, as opposed to the flippant side of his personality he uses for his comedies.
In Firewall, Ford is Jack Stanfield, a security expert for a Seattle-based international bank. Being the best in his field has made Jack a rich man.
He has a beautiful wife, Beth (Virginia Madsen), a teenage daughter and a younger son.
|
They live in a magnificent, security-top-heavy home Beth designed.
All this is suddenly in danger when a team of bank robbers led by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) demands Jack break through the security firewalls he has created for the bank's computers and steal $100 million.
Jack's incentive is that Cox and his gang have taken the family hostage and are prepared to do more than threaten and torment.
There is a particularly tense moment when Cox forces Jack's son into a allergy-induced coma and refuses to give the child his medication unless Jack agrees to toe the line.
Not only is it creepy, but it shows just how far Cox is prepared to go to get the money.
Firewall is a techno thriller, which means there are numerous scenes in which the characters, including Jack, work with computers and other gadgets and use mind-numbing technical jargon.
To director Richard Loncraine's credit, it doesn't destroy the suspense he must build.
From the first frame of the movie, it's clear there will be a showdown between Jack and Cox and it has to be as believable as it is physical and brutal.
Given that Bettany is nearly half Ford's age and in far better physical condition, it's amazing how credible the fight really is.
That's because Ford takes as many punches as he delivers.
His Jack Stanfield is no superhero, just an ordinary man pushed to the limits to defend everything that means anything to him.
This is Ford and Bettany's movie and they make great adversaries.
Bettany's character is so unconscionable, you can hardly wait for Ford to turn the tables on him.
The other members of Cox's gang are equally menacing, so it's clear they'll get their due as well.
The villains are far more colourful than Jack's family members.
Madsen, who made this one immediately after her Oscar-nominated performance in Sideways, is wasted, as are Alan Arkin, Robert Forster and Robert Patrick, who play Jack's colleagues at the bank.
The only really fun character at the bank is Jack's secretary Janet, played by Mary Lynn Rajskub, doing a variation of the character (Chloe) she plays on TV's 24.
Firewall is standard thriller fare, but it works well enough to make its 105-minute running time rush by.
The suspense, tension and thrills may not stop your heart, but they'll certainly rev it up a bit.
(This film is rated PG)