Ford action film goes up in flames

Before "Firewall," the last film Harrison Ford starred in was a buddy vehicle with Josh Hartnett called "Hollywood Homicide." If the title hasn't already given it away, that movie sucked. Ford then waited three years to release another movie, and if "Firewall" is the best he could come up with, you have to wonder if Ford really cares anymore. Because, you see, "Firewall" sucks too. \nFord is no longer a young man. In his latest release, audiences will be hard pressed to accept him as middle-aged Jack Stanfield, VP of security for a Seattle bank. He's got a loving wife and kids (who would be more convincing as his grandchildren), a really nice house and all sorts of neat, gadgety stuff lying around it; the kind of stuff you'd look at in The Sharper Image catalogue while going to the bathroom.\nAnyway, Paul Bettany and a bunch of no name thugs break in, hold the family hostage and force Ford to break through the bank's electronic barriers (which he so deftly designed) and steal $100 million for them. A nice, round number.\nTo describe the plot you should imagine what would happen if films like "Derailed" and "The Score" tag teamed "Homeward Bound" and they all had an illegitimate kid. It's full of the normal characters and clichés. Paul Bettany is sufficiently sadistic and Ford's son has severe allergies of which the movie makes predictable use. After the first half hour, it cashes in whatever ingenuity its setting in a high-tech bank allows for, and becomes the same old Ford "kicking the bad guy's ass" action flick.\nI will allow, though, that "Firewall" has a pretty impressive supporting cast. Check it out: Robert Patrick and Robert Forster both appear as Jack's co-workers, Virginia Madsen is Jack's wife, that one guy who played Seth Green's brother in "Rat Race" is one of Bettany's henchmen and Jack's daughter -- well, you'll never recognize her, but she's from the same small Midwestern town that I'm from, which wins her a special place in my heart. It doesn't matter that she's just an adorable face for Ford to save, we might have gone to the same high school and she's met Indiana Jones. Awesome!\nSo, if you're looking for a way to kill a couple hours because the Food Network reneged on its promise of an "Iron Chef" marathon, or some equally banal time killer falls through, fill that dead time with "Firewall." After all, this may be the last time we see Harrison Ford, the real American action hero. He needs to start acting his age, so this kind of movie can't, and probably won't, happen again.