Firewall Compromised

Film: Firewall
Cast: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen
Director: Richard Loncraine

If you are 63, but still have enough charisma to pull audiences to the cinemas and your name is not Arnold Schwarzenegger, then your fans are not going to expect you to beat up guys a third of your age. Why doesn’t Harrison Ford think so?

For three-quarters of the length of Firewall you are happy to be there. It is an intelligent thriller. (Okay, as intelligent as Matrix was philosophical.) But still it doesn’t tire you, even though it expects you to believe that elaborate bank security systems can be fooled with the hard drive of an I-pod and a few pieces of your neighbourhood fax machine. Then Ford gets physical and you want your money back.

Jack Stanfield (Ford) is a digital security chief at a bank who finds his family held hostage by an unscrupulous “businessman” Paul Cox (Bettany). Cox wants Jack to use his hi-tech skills to rob his bank and transfer the money to overseas accounts. How can Jack with the help of his secretary Janet (Mary Lynn Rajskub) outwit the bad guys and at the same time ensure the safety of his family?

Harrison Ford is efficient as always. So, for most part Jack Stanfield is a very believable character. Paul Bettany is very good. Thank goodness he loses his cool a few times, otherwise people would have rooted for him in the end. So cool is he. The rest of the characters just make up the background.

Joe Forte’s screenplay is good enough to keep you riveted for most of the time. The music is peppy and the tempo is too fast to last. Director Richard Loncraine tries valiantly to give you a good time until studio demands hamper him. Why can’t they let smart films remain smart?

My advice: The moment Jack gets the upper hand get out of the theatre. You would have gotten enough value for your money, especially if you haven’t seen the trailer before.