Firewall (2006)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writer (WGA):

Joe Forte (written by)

Release Date:

10 February 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

They will make him steal, but he will make them pay

Plot:

A security specialist is forced into robbing the bank that he's protecting, as a bid to pay off his family's ransom.

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Meeting | Murder | Cayman Islands | Architect

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13	10:30 PM	FX
Tue. July 14	10:00 AM	FX

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	Jack Stanfield
Virginia Madsen	...	Beth Stanfield
Carly Schroeder	...	Sarah Stanfield
Jimmy Bennett	...	Andy Stanfield
Gail Ann Lewis	...	Bank Employee #1
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Janet Stone
Matthew Currie Holmes	...	Bobby
Candus Churchill	...	Betty
David Lewis	...	Rich
Zahf Paroo	...	Ravi
Robert Forster	...	Harry Forester
Robert Patrick	...	Gary Mitchell
Alan Arkin	...	Arlin Forester
Pat Jenkinson	...	Laurie
Eric Keenleyside	...	Alan Hughes

Also Known As:

The Wrong Element (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence, and for some language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-15 | UK:12A | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42379) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Brazil:16 | Singapore:PG | India:UA | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 | Iceland:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | Hong Kong:IIA | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | France:U | Philippines:PG-13 | Hungary:16

Filming Locations:

Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Paul Bettany and Harrison Ford did some of their own stunts for the fighting scenes.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While Jack is figuring out how he will get the bank codes from the computers at work, he asks to use his daughter's iPod to hold the file names. He says "10,000 songs, 10,000 bank codes. It doesn't know the difference". However, the iPod that he is using is a pink iPod mini which only holds 1,000 songs.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bill Cox: [off-screen] Hello Jack.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Late Night with Conan O'Brien: (2006-02-07)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

(Meet) The Flintstones

Predictable and plodding

I like Harrison Ford. He was fun to watch as Indiana Jones and Han Solo. Even his Jack Ryan films were, for the most part, watchable. (They were certainly easier to sit through than that piece of nonsense starring Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan, that's for sure.) But as Ford ages, he really should work on playing more character roles. He's played Jack Stanfield-like roles so many times that there is nothing more or new he can bring to his performances.

He's also not the most diversely-ranged actor. He pretty much runs the gamut of emotions from highly enraged to enraged when he plays these roles, be they in "Frantic" (1998), "Patriot Games" (1992) or "Air Force One" (1997), all of which I enjoyed far more than "Firewall." Once again, Ford plays someone who has to rescue his family from danger and get the bad guys at the same time. Even ignoring the one gigantic plot hole in this film - Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) meticulously plans his dastardly deed after seemingly months of research, but then is ignorant of one incredibly crucial point - the film sputters along without much energy.

There certainly are very few thrills in this thriller. And for a thriller that is meant to be taut, this one's awfully loose and riddled with coincidences, no more so than in the climax. The manner in which Stanfield finds the bad guys is truly laughable.

Virginia Madsen got a well-deserved boost from "Sideways" (2004). And if her filmography is any indication, it seems she has attached herself to some interesting films. However, as brilliant as she was in "Sideways," she thoroughly wasted in "Firewall," serving merely as a decoration for Ford. Substitute Anne Archer from the Jack Ryan films or Wendy Crewson from "Air Force One" and you'll know what I mean.

The infuriating thing about watching "Firewall" is knowing that, considering the cast, its above-the-line costs alone were in the millions of dollars. Throw production and publicity costs in and you're talking a good fortune.

Now, just imagine how many wonderful $3-million-to-$5-million, or less, pictures could have been made instead of this rubbish.