DVD Review - Firewall

Firewall
Warner Home Video

The last decade has not been too kind to Mr. Ford, but then to be fair his choice in films has resulted in some fairly unpleasant cinema experiences for we the viewing audience as well. Anybody remember Hollywood Homicide? That is 116 minutes of my life I will never get back. This time around, Ford is heading back to comfortable territory. He plays Jack Stanfield, head of computer security for a bank. When his family is kidnapped, this everyman must rise up to the level of hero and remove his loved ones from harms way.

All in all, Firewall is an enjoyable action/suspense film. As I said, this is more familiar, more comfortable territory for Ford and it shows. His performance is solid stuff, the kind he has given many times before. The film is also helped by the very talented supporting cast, featuring Robert Patrick, Robert Forster, Virginia Madsen, Paul Bettany and Alan Arkin .Madsen does a great job as the wife. She takes the fairly clichéd role of damsel in distress and breaths some life into it. Bettany steps away from his usual nice guy role to play the ruthless leader of the kidnappers. I had absolutely no problem being afraid of him here. His character is a nasty piece of work, don’t EVER take a cookie from him!

Nobody will mistake Firewall for a classic, but it is an entertaining action flick and as good an excuse to make popcorn as you will find.

Jeremy Lynch

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