Directed By: Richard Loncraine
Written By: Joe Forte
Starring: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen
It’s a sad thing to watch one of the great actors fall from such an illustrious height to such a melancholy low. It’s been 12 years since Harrison Ford last starred as Jack Ryan (Clear And Present Danger), 13 years since his brilliant turn as Dr. Richard Kimble (The Fugitive) and 17 years since the last time anyone called him “Indy” (Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade).
Yet here we are, watching him as Jack Stanfield, the Chief Security Officer of a Pacific Northwest bank in the midst of a merger with a larger national bank. Jack is a fairly low-key guy; smiling occasionally, kissing his beautiful wife (Virginia Madsen) and telling his two kids (Carly Schroeder & Jimmy Bennett) he loves them before leaving for work. At work he’s more of the same; making lame jokes with his secretary (Mary Lynn Rajskub), fixing holes in the network security and subtly warring with his new boss (Robert Patrick).
This is a man who should be more than happy. He should be waking up everyday having to wash the rainbow sunshine colors from his graying hair before he slips on his tie. Instead, Ford plays his character with a mix of angst, bemusement and somber that’s found most commonly in an undertaker.
Coincidentally, this is all a set-up. Essentially, it’s an run-of-the-mill, put-the-ordinary-guy-in-an-impossible-situation thriller. After a harmless post-hours meeting with an investor, Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), things quickly take dive for our not-so-maligned hero. He’s taken, at gunpoint by Cox, back to his house where Cox’s henchmen have taken his family hostage. From there the motives are simple; break through the bank’s security (designed by Jack) and steal $100,000,000.
If Jack’s confusing character hadn’t been enough, this is where writer Joe Forte loses his audience. Cox is made out to be the most ruthless of villains by consorting with Jack’s young son, Andrew, and calmly asking Jack’s wife, Beth, to convince him to work peaceably. Bettany plays the character in an understated way, trying to prove that the quiet ones are always the most dangerous. While the character as written doesn’t give him a truckload to work with, Bettany takes what’s there and makes it his own in subtly powerful ways.
None of his work, though, or the above average work by his henchmen, can overcome the dull plot. The attempts to create tension fall apart too quickly and the menacing, overbearing appearance of Cox seems to squash what could have been some really nice hold-your-breath scenes. Secondary storylines and subplots in the movie either get resolved too quickly or are forgotten altogether, abandoned when Forte obviously didn’t know how to end them.
The crux of the story, Jack’s attempt to outwit his captors, is overshadowed much of the time by what “could have been”. A car chase that ends before it begins, the death of one of a friends and the complete improbability of Jack’s “heist” of his own system.
In the end, the movie degrades into a fist-fight, two men trading blows over what is one man’s family and another man’s money. The entire movie seems an allusion to what could have been a more well thought out exercise in tension.
Surprisingly, it’s not Director Richard Loncraine’s fault that we almost get the movie we were hoping we could get. His camera work is steady and purposeful, giving us great character views and masking the failings of the script. It’s neither something to rave about, nor does it detract. But, the failings of the plot and Harrison Ford’s performance keep this movie from being what it should have been. It’s a hard thing to attribute to such a great actor, but Ford’s lack of faith in the movie is evident on the screen.
Thus we are left only part of a good thriller. We have an antagonist doing what he does best and a protagonist who has but a single moment of true character, killing one of the henchmen in a blind rage and trying to cope with the aftershocks. Unfortunately, it takes 3/4 of the movie to get to this brief, fleeting moment and gives the audience a true glimmer of what might have been - of what Ford was once capable of doing.
- A. Chlebowski is a graduate of Marquette University and holds a Bachelor's in Theatrical Production and an Associates in English and History. He's lived and worked in Milwaukee (WI), Chicago (IL), Burlington (VT), Los Angeles (CA) and now resides in St. Louis (MO), where he was born. He likes reading, writing and drinking. Go Cardinals!!!