Firewall Photo

Firewall

Starring: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virgina Madsen, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Alan Arkin

Directed by: Richard Loncraine

RS: 2of 4 Stars

2006 Warner Bros. Pictures Action

As a thriller, Firewall is flabby and familiar. And Harrison Ford scowls through his role as bank security specialist Jack Stanfield like an actor who knows he's a long way from the cool suspense and wry humor of 1993's The Fugitive, his last great movie. Fancy-pants Brit director Richard Loncraine (Richard III) is out to establish Hollywood cred by just getting the job done. He does so efficiently, despite a Joe Forte script that stretches the long arm of coincidence like taffy. Jack's wife (Virginia Madsen, slumming after Sideways) and two kids are held hostage in their Seattle home until the bad guys, led by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany being John Malkovich), can muscle Jack into robbing his own bank with the latest in computer technology. The miasma of dull keyboard shots is broken by enough decent stunts to make Firewall a passable distraction. Nothing more.

Peter Travers' new book, "1,000 Best Movies on DVD" is available now.