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Firewall

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Firewall (2006)

19%
17%
45%
N/A
N/A
N/A
19 %
Reviews Counted: 151 Fresh: 29  Rotten:122 Average Rating: 4.6/10
 
Consensus: Harrison Ford's rote performance brings little to this uninspired techno-heist film whose formulaic plot is befuddled with tedious and improbable twists.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Theatrical Release: 2005

Box Office: $48,699,400

Synopsis: Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is an average family man in Seattle who heads up the hi-tech security team at his local bank. But following a seemingly trivial case of identity theft, Jack's life is turned upside-down when he discovers that his wife (Virginia Madsen) and two kids have been... Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is an average family man in Seattle who heads up the hi-tech security team at his local bank. But following a seemingly trivial case of identity theft, Jack's life is turned upside-down when he discovers that his wife (Virginia Madsen) and two kids have been kidnapped. The ransom? A mere $100 million, which the kidnappers, led by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), want Jack to obtain for them via his expert computer skills. Initially compliant, Jack is soon irked by Cox and his cronies to the point where he decides to get his family back and bring the bad guys to justice. British Director Richard Loncraine (WIMBLEDON) uses this basic premise to orchestrate a number of frantic set-pieces, while Ford concocts a character similar to his take on Dr. Richard Kimble in THE FUGITIVE. With a mouthful of computer jargon and nimble fingers that tumble frantically over a keyboard whenever he's in front of a computer, Ford's character is an unlikely action hero. Meanwhile, Bettany's bad guy gives subtly sinister instructions in his clipped British accent, Robert Forster (JACKIE BROWN) provides a likeable if underused ally for Ford, and Madsen slots neatly into her wife-in-peril role. As the film builds to an explosive climax Loncraine dumps the gadgets and carves out a delirious romp through action-movie conventions, ultimately infusing an old-fashioned story with a twist of 21st-century techno-fear. [More]

Genre: Action/Adventure

Starring: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen, Alan Arkin, Beverley Breuer

Director: Richard Loncraine
Screenwriter: Joe Forte
Producer: Armyan Bernstein, Graham Burke, Jeffrey Clifford, Jonathan Shestack
Composer: Alexander Desplat

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 5, 2006

[DVD Details]
  • Firewall
  • Firewall stars Harrison Ford as bank security expert Jack Stanfield, whose specialty is designing infallible theft-proof financial computer systems. But there's a hidden vulnerability in the system he didn't account for - himself. When a ruthless criminal mastermind (Paul Bettany) kidnaps his family, Jack is forced to find a flaw in his system and steal $100 million. With the lives of his wife and children at stake and under constant surveillance, he has only hours to find a loophole in the thief's own impenetrable system of subterfuge and false identities to beat him at his own game.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  • Buy It On DVD

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    Full Review | comment Comment
    01/15/08
    Garth Franklin
    Dark Horizons
    N/R

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    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/01/07
    David Ansen
    Newsweek
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    Ratings Image
    3/4

    Another edge-of-your-seat, roller coaster ride from a matinee idol everybody loves to root for.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/30/07
    Kam Williams
    Upstage Magazine
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    A solid ensemble almost saves Firewall, but, in the end, it goes up in campy flames.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/24/07
    Brian Tallerico
    UGO
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Director Richard Loncraine shows no affinity for the nuts and bolts of constructing thrillers, playing out the script's empty threats and chases at a lethargic pace.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/01/07
    Daniel Eagan
    Film Journal International
    N/R

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    Full Review | comment Comment
    01/20/07
    Philip French
    Observer [UK]
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Harrison Ford is outshone by his costars in this crisp, conventional thriller.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    10/07/06
    Stephanie Zacharek
    Salon.com
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    Ratings Image
    2/4

    There is an air of desperation about Firewall, a sense that Ford needed to make this movie just to keep his face in the public eye, lest we think he had fallen off the planet altogether.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    09/22/06
    Peter T. Chattaway
    Christianity Today
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Its formulaic moves seem particuarly tired.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/24/06
    Trevor Johnston
    Time Out
    Ratings Image
    6/10

    ...it's always good to see Ford back in action mode. He lifts a routine film out of total mediocrity by his very presence.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/31/06
    John J. Puccio
    DVDTown.com
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    The movie gets a lift from Mary Lynn Rajskub in a glamorized version of her nerd’s wet dream Chloe on 24, which is also better this year with the Chloe quotient pumped up.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/12/06
    David Edelstein
    New York Magazine
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    N/A

    The characters spend a lot of time hunched over keyboards tap-tap-tapping away, which isn’t all that suspenseful to watch.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/12/06
    Jim Lane
    Sacramento News & Review
    Ratings Image
    C

    It runs along a time-worn path at a leisurely pace and holds few surprises.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/03/06
    Robert Roten
    Laramie Movie Scope
    N/R

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    04/01/06
    Peter Bradshaw
    Guardian [UK]
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    2/5

    A formulaic, it’ll-do action-thriller, Firewall does what you’d expect it to well enough but fails to fully exploit the skills of its talented cast -- particularly the leading man.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/01/06
    Empire Magazine
    Ratings Image
    2/5

    Something of a throwback to the Harrison Ford thrillers of the 90s, this is an average thriller with the occasional fun moment.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/30/06
    Matthew Turner
    ViewLondon
    Ratings Image
    2/5

    Not that [Harrison Ford] deserves our sympathy. The increasingly wrinkly veteran seems determined to age gracelessly, taking roles he's clearly too old for in a desperate attempt to maintain his leading man status.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/21/06
    Neil Smith
    BBC
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Joe Forte's screenplay couldn't be any easier to read if it were on a billboard.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/17/06
    John Larsen
    Light Views
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Harrison Ford isn't exactly the kind of guy you might envision as a computer expert, but then again he did make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/16/06
    Luke Y. Thompson
    Los Angeles CityBeat
    Ratings Image
    C+

    A generic, rudimentary thriller but shows there is still life left in the old Ford. Madsen, though, needs to beware the 'Curse of Harrison.'

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/14/06
    Bruce Bennett
    Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
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