The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 13 Aug 2011 09:24 PM PDT WE'RE going to cheat a little bit in this list. Because any discussion of Harrison Ford's best performances has to include the iconic roles of Han Solo and Indiana Jones. They're just a given. So we're revisiting five other performances that have stood out over his varied, 40-year film career. His best days may be behind him, but moments still shine through when he proves he's still got "it": that mix of superstar charisma and everyman relatability, heroism and irony. With Ford co-starring in Cowboys & Aliens, here's a look back at some of his finest work: > Witness (1985): It's sort of baffling, but this is the only film for which Ford has earned an Oscar nomination; maybe he's just so good at what he does, he makes it look effortless. In director Peter Weir's thriller, he plays a police detective who goes into hiding in Amish country to protect a young boy who witnessed a murder. He's tough and he's smart, but as he grows more comfortable in this foreign community, he also proves he can milk a cow and raise a mean barn. And as we know from the Indiana Jones movies, Ford can wear a hat – any kind of hat – and make it look sexy. He also reveals a tender and understated side in the smoldering chemistry he enjoys with Kelly McGillis who stars as the boy's mother. > The Fugitive (1993): This is one of those regular-guy-in-danger roles that are Ford's bread and butter. Based on the 1960s TV series, the film stars Ford as Dr Richard Kimble, who was wrongly convicted of killing his wife. When the bus he's riding in crashes on the way to prison, he makes his escape. His intensity, paranoia and fear are palpable. But Ford also functions as the straight man here compared to Tommy Lee Jones as the quick-witted lead investigator on his tail. Both performances give the film a depth beyond the usual summer chase thriller. But that contrast also sets up this classic exchange once their paths cross: "I didn't kill my wife." "I don't care." > The Mosquito Coast (1986): Working with Weir again, Ford takes on a very different role. He plays an eccentric inventor who's so fed up with contemporary society that he packs up his wife (Helen Mirren) and kids (including River Phoenix) and moves them to the rain forests of Central America. Unhinged yet unshakable, he's obsessed to the point of shunning reality in his pursuit of utopia. It's to Ford's credit that he's so believable in playing a character who becomes supremely unlikable, even to the family that's supposed to love him. Then again, the script was adapted by Paul Schrader, an expert in the mind of the tormented man. > Blade Runner (1982): Ridley Scott's film is a sci-fi classic, and Ford anchors it with stoic, film-noir cool. He stars as Rick Deckard, a retired Los Angeles detective in the year 2019 who's called back into duty to seek out and terminate rebel replicants. Based on a Philip K. Dick novel, Blade Runner is all about mood and production design – a dank, futuristic dystopia that's since become hugely influential. But Ford brings a much-needed sense of complex humanity to this dark spectacle. > Working Girl (1988): A great example of Ford's capacity for romantic comedy. Yes, Mike Nichols' film is all about powerful women, with Melanie Griffith coming into her own as a big-haired secretary at a major Wall Street firm who takes over for her ailing boss (Sigourney Weaver). But the relationship she forges both professionally and personally with Ford's character, an investment banker who thinks she's really in charge, helps her confidence blossom. He's steady but also passionate, amusing and bemused, an imperfect Prince Charming. That may all sound like a contradiction, but it's that kind of versatility that makes Ford so enduring. – AP Related Story: |
| Harrison Ford: Straight shooter Posted: 13 Aug 2011 09:23 PM PDT Harrison Ford is a rebel at any age. HOW does one react to seeing an aged Harrison Ford, in person? Even though he has not stepped away long enough from the big screen to make anyone forget he is getting older every year, it is still surreal to see him looking 69. This is probably because in our minds, he is forever Han Solo (metaphorically frozen in carbonite for delivery to Jabba the Hutt). And what's up with that stud on his left ear? It's very distracting. The loss of youth doesn't mean he has cast less of a shadow in an industry obsessed with the young. Truth be told, he casts an even larger one. Ford has always refused to play by Hollywood's rules – he has a lot of opinions and isn't afraid to voice them. Offend, schmoffend. Yet, far from getting into trouble for speaking his mind, he comes off as highly respected. Even as he stays out of the public eye, reports of the formidable star flying planes, rescuing hikers, buying horses and doing charity work to save the environment have seeped through now and again. About the only time he seemed to get bad publicity was when he started going out with the much younger Calista Flockhart in 2002. The two – who are parents to her adopted son, Liam – made their partnership legal in June last year in Santa Fe, where he was filming Cowboys & Aliens. Ford's forceful personality and obvious intelligence came through a couple of times during this interview held at the media event for Cowboys & Aliens in Missoula, Montana, in the United States. Ford stars in the sci-fi Western alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde. Pose a simple question to him, like why moviegoers are still fascinated by cowboys, and you'll get more than you bargained for. "Well, I think America is a country that was formed at a point in civilisation when we needed to have a story for ourselves. We needed to tell ourselves what we represented to the rest of the world ... we had to create our own mythology. It was less invested in religion and more invested in taking from the land to create richness and opportunity. That manifested itself as an ideology and destiny of the United States – to just stretch from sea to shining sea. Bull****. There were people here already. What about their destiny? 'Oh it doesn't matter. Get out of here!' "That's certainly part of America's ethos. It's complex. I am not denying good things have happened, as well as bad things. This is a country that's always told itself truths and half-truths. Maybe every other country does, I don't know, I don't consider myself a historian. But the mythology of the frontier, the mythology of good brave men going out and being self-reliant, being bold, being courageous is the mythology of the Western, and it's a powerful concept for the people. (But) it's been refined to a certain simplicity that leaves out other things." If anyone else said that, they'd be in trouble right now. Ford may have aged somewhat, but he obviously has a sharp mind and is healthier than we'd imagine an-almost septuagenarian. Maybe it's because he dabbles in carpentry and is a licensed private pilot. He also owns a ranch in Jackson, Wyoming (half of which he has donated as a nature reserve), where he keeps his horses. The most recent purchases were the horses he and Craig used in the film Cowboys & Aliens. Director Jon Favreau remembers that he felt intimidated when he first hung out with Ford. That, however, changed when he realised that Ford is an actor who wants to be involved in the process of storytelling every step of the way. Favreau said: "He's very taciturn and measured. He's been one of the most famous people in the world for 30 years. Yet he's found a way to stay balanced. He does a lot of charity work. He's very engaged with his family. He concentrates on the small stuff, which I think makes him a normal, cool guy. "But he's also very passionate about storytelling and the work, which is really refreshing because he's somebody who's arguably made enough money not to care anymore, but he really cares." Meanwhile rising movie star Wilde is obviously in awe at how Ford has never let his Hollywood persona affect his personal life. She said: "He has a life and an identity beyond acting. Harrison is a family man, a carpenter, horseback rider and also does a lot of philanthropic work. He is grounded enough to be able to portray different characters in a more interesting way. I've learned from him that you have to continue to develop who you are beyond your characters. And if acting doesn't work out for him – which is highly unlikely – he would be just as happy. I mean you really get that from Harrison. He could be a carpenter, he could be just working in a shed and he'd be the same guy." Ford admitted that he never goes to the movies. Though he loves the process of making movies and acquiring skills to make him useful in a role, he is not crazy about spending too much time thinking about them. All he wants is to continue "to do good work with good people". "I want to be surprised by what comes along and the opportunities that I have. Listen, at my age, I am happy to be still working at all." Cowboys & Aliens is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Related Story: |
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