Weekly Review -- All firewalled out

Firewall (2006) -- Harrison Ford has made a cinematic niche for himself in the last decade, often playing ordinary family men forced to rescue their families from assorted villains. This style of film is his tried and true formula; Ford's appeal makes us empathize with his characters' ordeals and the stories are always entertaining. Well, almost always. Firewall is certainly inferior to films like Air Force One and Patriot Games. It is more violent and less logical, with villains that are far less clever than AFO's Korshunov or Patriot Games' Sean Miller. This film finds Ford as Jack Stanfield, VP of bank security, who has to rob his own bank for bad guy Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), while Cox and his cronies hold Stanfield's family hostage. Along the way, he finds means to thwart the criminals' plans and use the bank's computer system to his advantage. Personally, I found this film to be a combination of Don't Say a Word and Hostage, with a bit of hacking and techno talk thrown in for good measure; the thing is, both of these were more engaging films. It is a predictably written and sloppily directed thriller, with some wasted acting talent. Ford is an excellent actor, but should be given more diverse roles, since he has proven his versatility a number of times. Bettany's cheerfully monotone voice and commanding appearance succeed in making Cox threatening, even though the character is mostly one-dimensional and not very intelligent -- e.g. how come he is clueless about the method of robbery that he himself has put into motion? The always wonderful Virginia Madsen is barely given anything to do, but some of her character's actions manage to elevate her above the standard "doting wife" role. There is a colorful turn from Mary Lynn Rajskub, Chloe O'Brien from "24". Overall, this is a thriller without an element of surprise. It is a watchable guilty pleasure, but all three leads -- Ford, Bettany and Madsen -- are undeniably better than this material.

6/10