Take 247: K-19, Firewall, & Paranoia - Harrison Ford In Review

Mostly Film – Take 247: Harrison Ford In Review — Episode 5B

An honest accounting of a difficult stretch. Jonathan and JP cover the long middle — eleven years, three films, roughly $165 million combined box office on budgets totalling nearly $180 million. None of them hits.

First, K-19: The Widowmaker. The most defensible of the three — a genuinely ambitious film directed by Kathryn Bigelow, edited by Walter Murch, shot by David Fincher's cinematographer, based on a true Soviet nuclear disaster that was classified for 28 years. Ford was paid $25 million for approximately 20 days of filming and was advised by everyone around him not to take the role. He took it anyway, specifically because Vostrikov wasn't a hero. The surviving crew members sent an open letter objecting to the film. It opened to $12 million domestically on a $90 million budget, ten months after September 11, asking American audiences to empathise with Soviet naval officers. Bigelow's next film was The Hurt Locker, which won her the Oscar. The character of Polenin is based on the man many historians believe prevented World War Three during the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year.

Then Firewall. The same Beacon Pictures team that made Air Force One tried to recapture that film's formula. They did not succeed. Ford was found sitting on the airport baggage carousel during a Vancouver shoot, going around in circles on his phone. Virginia Madsen thought his personal voicemail offering her the role was a prank call and didn't return it. Paul Bettany kept being told his punches were too soft until he finally hit Ford at full strength — Ford's response was "that's it." 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. The premise is stronger than the execution. The dog GPS sequence near the end is as bad as advertised.

Then Paranoia. Ford in a supporting role behind Liam Hemsworth, reunited with Gary Oldman sixteen years after Air Force One with the dynamic inverted. 5% on Rotten Tomatoes — lower than Catwoman. Opened to $3.5 million domestically. Oldman didn't attend the premiere. The distributor filed for bankruptcy two years later. Jason Hall co-wrote the screenplay and went on to write American Sniper the following year. Richard Dreyfuss appears in a small role and his scenes with Ford are the warmest thing in the film, which tells you everything.

Between 2002 and 2013 Ford made eight films outside of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. None of them worked. The question for the episode: was the decline inevitable, or were there different choices available? And is the commercial disappearance of Harrison Ford the movie star the same thing as the disappearance of Harrison Ford the actor?