As his first major film role since 2003's Hollywood Homicide, Harrison Ford returns to the big screen in Firewall, an action thriller where Ford pretty much plays the same character we've seen him play many times before in the past 10 years or so - Namely that of the over the hill noble family man who is forced to fight when his family is placed into danger. There's no denying that he plays the part well, and at 63 years old, he can still pull off an action sequence without making it look too ridiculous. But, if Firewall proves anything, it's that it's time to move on. Director Richard Loncraine (the romantic comedy Wimbledon) has crafted a strictly by the book, predictable thriller. The film succeeds only as "check your brain at the door" entertainment, and while it's far from boring, the film just fails to leave any sort of lasting impression, and has a sort of "been there, done that" quality to it, since Ford is basically playing the same character he always does, whether it be Jack Ryan in the Tom Clancy series, or the President of the United States in Air Force One.

This time, Ford plays Jack Stanfield, a high level security specialist who has developed one of the most complex anti-theft computer devices for the bank that he works for. We spend the first 15 or so minutes of the film watching a regular day in his life, both on the job, and at home with his wife, Beth (Virginia Madsen from Sideways) and two children - 14-year-old daughter Sarah (Carly Schroeder) and 8-year-old son Andrew (Jimmy Bennett). Jack's normal life is thrown out of sync when a group of high tech thieves force themselves into his home, holding his entire family hostage. Led by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) the thieves want Jack to crack his own security system, and deposit the money from the bank's wealthiest clients into his own secret account. Fearing for the safety of his own family, Jack complies to the demands of the villains, but he is constantly on the look out for ways to escape the ever-watching eyes of the thieves who have bugged his house and even his clothes with hidden cameras and microphones so they can follow his every move. As Bill Cox's evil plan falls into place, Jack quickly realizes that he must find a way to fight back, or else risk losing everything.

Firewall is the kind of movie that pretty much tells you the direction the plot is going to take almost from the opening scene. The characters drop many hints at important plot developments yet to come, such as the fact that Jack's son is allergic to peanuts, or that the family dog has a knack for running away and has a GPS collar so they can track his location. Almost from the instant this information is revealed, you already know that it's going to play some sort of role in the story to come. The film also contains many red herrings to try to throw us off, some of which are never fully wrapped up or developed, such as Robert Patrick's character of a shady and slimy guy at Jack's job that he does not trust. The film also contains numerous plot holes and lapses in logic, particularly the fact that the villains' have missed a very obvious problem in their plan when everything else in their plot seems so calculated and meticulously thought out. And could an I-Pod really be used as a back up hard drive for a database at a bank? Talk about your product placements!! Firewall is a movie that becomes increasingly ludicrous as it unfolds. (Gotta love the car that seemingly explodes into flames for no reason after it hits someone during the climax sequence.) Yet, it's constantly fast-paced, never boring, and as long as you don't apply a lot of thought to it, can be fun sometimes. But, come on, we've seen this all before, and done much better at that.

The big problem with the screenplay by Joe Forte is that it never takes the time to truly get to know its characters. Therefore, it's impossible to care about Jack's plight to save his family, especially since he seems to spend as little as time as possible around them. The characters are stock, one dimensional characters that hold no interesting aspects whatsoever. The movie seems to hint that one of the thieves is somewhat sympathetic toward Jack's family, but nothing is done with this subplot, other than some subtle hints. No real relationships are created, and the only character who sparks our interest is the main villain, Bill Cox, and that's thanks mostly to Paul Bettany's lively performance. Rather than develop its story or characters, the movie prefers to throw at us predictable fist fights, car chases, and shootings. There are some interesting and well done sequences, such as when the family tries to escape from the house by setting off a false alarm, but then the script goes back to the mundane and the ordinary.

Because of the one-note nature of the characters, very few of the actors are given a chance to do anything interesting with their characters. Virginia Madsen is beautiful and likeable as always, and as mentioned earlier, Paul Bettany seems to be having a ball playing his first evil character in a film, and gets some very dryly funny lines throughout. Harrison Ford gets a couple funny lines, too, though I don't know if they're intentional. There's a moment late in the film where he says "I'm going to find my dog" with the same level of seriousness as if he was saying, "I'm going to save the President's life" that had me rolling with laughter. Harrison Ford plays the same overly heroic and noble hero that he usually plays, while his family really don't do anything but sit in the bedroom, looking scared or concerned. Bill's henchmen are a shallow bunch that we learn little about, other than their first names. The only semi-interesting character besides the villain is Jack's young secretary, played by Mary Lynn Rajskub from TV's 24, and even she does not seem as developed as much as she should be. (Would be nice to know why she was so trusting of Jack's character after he barges into her apartment with a gun, and practically forces her down into a chair.)

It's very hard to exactly pinpoint my thoughts on this movie. Sometimes I admired the film's silliness, and sometimes I found it tired. I walked out of Firewall not exactly entertained, but I don't regret seeing it either. I guess you have to be in the right mood for the film's special blend of silly, check your brain at the door entertainment. It doesn't succeed fully as a crowd pleaser, and I really think Harrison Ford could have picked a better script than this after being gone from films for so long. If you have the ability to stomach major plot holes and just enjoy it for what it is, you'll probably have fun. I guess I enjoyed the nonsense only some of the time.

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