SNMR 1.21 "Firewall"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Firewall" (2006, PG-13, 105 minutes), starring Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Robert Patrick. The film was directed by Richard Loncraine.

As one who owns nearly every Harrison Ford film, from the oldest to this, the most recent - I had to buy it when it came out on DVD, no matter how good or bad it turned out to be. And, like many other DVD's I end up buying, had never watched it until tonight.

From the DVD's dust jacket:

It's an ordinary day at Landrock Pacific Bank - ordinary for everyone but I.T. expert Jack Stanfield. His wife and children are held hostage at home. Their kidnappers have one demand: Jack must heist $100 million from the ultra-secure system he designed. And they'll be watching every move he makes.

Showing the Everyman vulnerability, strength and resourcefulness that make him one of film's most appealing heroes, Harrison Ford portrays Stanfield in this cyber-edged race against time. Paul Bettany (The DaVinci Code) co-stars as an ice blooded crime mastermind. And Virginia Madsen (Sideways) plays Stanfield's wife, who disregards her own terror to protect her children. The criminals' plan is airtight. They figure they can't lose. But they overlook one thing: the desperation of a man with everything to lose.

I thought that this story had much more potential in the script than was actually written. So much more could have been added to the story to make it better. Harrison Ford carries the film and Virginia Madsen is excellent as his terrified wife. Paul Bettany plays a ho-hum bad guy. This film reminded me a wee-bit of Die Hard, with the techie-savvy crooks looking to steal lots of money and getting beat up in the end. This film definitely wasn't one of Ford's better roles, but I credit that to a weak script, rather than a poor performance or bad acting. Overall I thought it was a decent film, with just enough tension to keep the story moving. I'll give this film two and a half out of five stars.