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Firewall
DVD review by Alan Green
In a coup of monumental proportion writer Joe Forte, whose only other theatrical movie credit is a story credit from an obscure movie called "Say I Do", managed to sell his script "Firewall" to Warner Bros. In a misstep of equally monumental proportion Harrison Ford decided to star in the movie based on Mr. Forte's contrivance. It is difficult to find the words to fully describe how quickly this story falls apart. I can tell you honestly, however, that my breath was quite literally knocked from my body when my mind grasped the twists and turns of the plot and, at other times, I was laughing out loud at how ridiculous it had become. Luckily, I was watching this movie on DVD and could pause it long enough to recover my sensibilities before continuing. I feel truly sorry for those poor souls who were subjected to this folly in a theater, and could not take such a 'sanity adjustment' break during the show.
Ford plays Jack Stanfield, a highly competent and well-liked bank accounts security specialist. In Act I, Ford manages to engage us with a performance that lacks the superficiality so often utilized by actors who, for whatever reason, find themselves in movies which no one believes in--not the studio, producers, director, or the actors themselves. For this I applaud everyone involved. The sincerity and commitment of Ford and all the actors in this poor movie is either a result of professionalism of the highest order, or because nobody was allowed to read the rest of the script until just before the next scene was to be shot, and therefore, did not know just how bad a story they were helping to create. Bringing this to life with a straight face, knowing what kind of seat-of-the-pants storytelling lies ahead takes some pretty good actors.
Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code) plays Bill Cox, the leader of a gang of high tech bank robbers who is set on forcing Jack to bypass a computer security system in order to rob a bank of, well, a lot of money--you may use your imagination as to just how much it is--it really doesn't matter. Bettany's performance is noteworthy--he creates a believable villain who is both cool and cruel, but also highly intelligent. And, bad? Bill is a man who would feed peanut butter cookies to Jack's son (who is allergic to peanuts) in order that the boy's ensuing near fatal allergic attack will convince Jack to cooperate--a thinking man's villain. Bettany manages to project his character's thoughts beautifully and adds a depth and subtlety of performance usually not found in such poorly written movies or, really, most movies.
Also notable are Robert Forster and Alan Arkin who play poorly defined bank officials. These two guys are veteran actors who quit relying on technique long ago. They comport themselves with enviable ease, not allowing you for a moment to think they are anything other than Jack's old trusted friends. When these guys are on screen they create movie magic, and I loved every second of it. Unfortunately, they play minor roles. It's a shame that such fine actors aren't in more movies.
Believe it or not, despite all the above, the first part of "Firewall" is a gem. Act I is so finely put together it makes the flippant structure of the rest of the movie seem criminal by comparison. Critics trashed "Firewall", and after the first twenty minutes I was wondering why. It clicks along so well I found myself leaning forward to watch more carefully in anticipation of what might happen next. It may be that the suspense and originality of Act I is what snagged the caliber of actors who agreed to become involved. However, how Mr. Ford and the rest of the cast came to think the public would not notice the astonishing lack of respect for logic the rest of the movie has cannot be fathomed.
While I would like to tell you what deus ex machina are utilized, I simply can't. I've done my part to warn you, and if you choose to watch this movie anyway, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprises for you. I'll just reiterate that the silly twists of this plot show no respect for plausibility and are, forgive me for beating a dead horse, of monumental proportion. After Act I, "Firewall" is one of the most entertaining slapstick thriller-comedies I've ever seen. It's a strange hybrid sort of genre but, nonetheless... I guess that's what you get when your director, writer, and editor are all recent graduates from television production, are desperate to establish themselves in the movie industry, and are willing to do any project, no matter how obviously flawed it may be, to acheive their goals. So, if you find yourself bored and curious enough, you might want to pop this disc into the player. But, don't blame me for what you see. I did the best I could to stop you.
On a final note, director Richard Loncraine's (Wimbledon and several TV projects) camera moves one way when it should go the other. Editing by James Page (several TV shows) may have been done with a meat cleaver. The orchestral score by Alexandre Desplat ("Syriana" and "Birth") is a bit too 'da da dum!' to take seriously.
All in all I would suggest you wait until you're in the mood for a sharp suspense-thriller before watching the first part of "Firewall", then wait as long as it takes, days or years perhaps, until you're in the mood for pretzel-twisted logic before you watch the rest.
Firewall
Directed
by Richard Loncraine; written by Joe Forte; director of photography, Marco
Pontecorvo; edited by Jim Page; music by Alexandre Desplat; production
designer, Brian Morris; produced by Armyan Bernstein, Jonathan Shestack and
Basil Iwanyk; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 100 minutes.
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