 |
| Director
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Richard Loncraine
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| Starring
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Harrison Ford, Virginia
Madsen, Paul Bettany |
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| The plot of
Firewall |
Security specialist Jack Williams (Ford) is forced
into robbing the bank he works for, as a bid to
pay off the ransom on his kidnapped family. |
Firewall
Review
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Review by Brian
Lowry:
At its core a high-tech,
wi-fi version of "The Desperate Hours," "Firewall"
begins slowly, exhibits hints of promise in the middle
and then descends into silliness. Harrison FordHarrison
Ford has the whole "Not with my family, you don't"
Everyman routine down to a science, but the improbable
twists begin piling up before the star finally goes
commando. Beyond Paul BettanyPaul Bettany's suave villain,
there's not much to distinguish what amounts to an old-fashioned
"B" picture, except perhaps its unusually
overwrought score. Box office prospects look so-so on
a pic that has "rental" written all over it.Ford
has aged gracefully into roles where he's the caring
dad, CIA analyst or president who has to save his family,
country or plane. Still, this is clearly on the lighter
end of that spectrum, both in terms of stakes and believability
factor.As Jack Stanfield, Ford has an idyllic life,
with a pretty, accomplished wife (Virginia Madsen) and
two squabbling kids (Carly Schroeder, Jimmy Bennett).
All that is quickly upended, however, when a team of
gunmen invades the house.The group's leader, Bill Cox
(Bettany), has been tracking Stanfield's movements as
head of network security for a Seattle bank. Cox plans
to take Stanfield's family hostage and compel the patriarch
to transfer millions into an offshore account. And while
Jack's impulse is to rebel, Cox's elaborate setup includes
all kinds of surveillance equipment to monitor his every
move.Thus begins the game of cat and mouse, forcing
Jack to behave strangely around his assistant ("24's"
Mary Lynn Rajskub), another security expert (Robert
Patrick) and colleague Harry (Robert ForsterRobert Forster).
Yet given Cox's ruthlessness..more..
Review By Dana Stevens:
Firewall (Warner Bros.) is one of those all-purpose,
vaguely techy thrillers that roll out of Hollywood studios
like colored spheres from a gumball machine, especially
in the gloomy, post-Oscar-nomination days. Harrison
Ford, in his standard-issue Henry Fonda-style role as
aggrieved Everyman, plays Jack Stanfield, a computer
security expert at a Seattle bank who lives in a fantabulous
waterfront house designed by his architect wife, Beth
(Virginia Madsen). Their enviable life includes two
children, 14-year-old Sarah (Carly Schroeder) and 8-year-old
Andrew (Jimmy Bennett). But as the film opens, we see
every moment of the Stanfield's perfect life being observed
by hidden cameras, tapped phones, and online surveillance.Who
could wield such ominous, all-seeing power—the
National Security Agency under new provisions of FISA?
No, it's only Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), a ruthless British
thief with an arsenal of cool toys and a team of interchangeable
thugs at his disposal. Posing as a rich businessman
who wants to poach Jack away from his job, Cox soon
manages to infiltrate the Stanfield home, where he takes
the whole family hostage until Jack agrees to use his
security know-how to steal $100 million from his own
bank.In order to appeal to the largest possible audience
(and therefore, to no one in particular), Firewall has
been relieved of even the remotest political or social
subtext. This isn't a reflection on the disappearance
of privacy or the role of technology in the modern age..More..
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