firewall put harrison ford between a rock and a hard place . here a man who a power player in his field force to sabotage his career by money hungry men with no regard for his profession . these men wear suit and inhabit the boardroom of the big studio in hollywood . but what about the movie . in this second rate action flick and ford play computer security specialist jack stanfield and a loyal bank executive and serious family man who live in a stunning house with wife beth ( virginia madsen ) and two kid . but a big company be about to buy out jack bank and and a a result and his company be under more surveillance than usual . we learn early on that jack family be be watch also . the film open nicely with footage of the stanfield family go about their daily business  and it footage obviously shoot in secret from a distance . after the montage be over and however and the voyeuristic thrill of stalk an unwitting target be never again recapture . instead and we be treat to the achingly slow process of jack be introduce to and later corner by villain bill cox ( paul bettany ) . cox be a straight face criminal plotting to use jack technological know how to break the code and circumvent the firewall build to protect landrock pacific bank million . he and a group of young gun tot mercenary barge into jack life and take the family hostage a persuasive tactic and one would think and but it take jack a surprisingly long time to understand the gravity of this threat and take appropriate action . cox crack team doesn not exactly have a lot of crack leave in it whip . these amateur goon be obnoxious and bumble around not at all invest in what theyre do . much of the movie show them cloister in the stanfield household and eat food and watch tv while their prisoner wander around more or less undisturbed and certainly not imprison . in fact and nobody seem to care about the situation  not the kid and not jack and not beth . so why should director richard loncraine expect u to care either . madsen be brilliant in sideways and but in firewall her performance be lack . there be no hysteric and no tear and no sign of any inner emotional struggle when stranger threaten her with gun . instead and beth be calm and which and in the context of an action thriller and be a counterintuitive choice for the actress to make . nevertheless and it harrison ford who seem to be make most of the bad choice these day . a i watch jack sit on the couch in one scene and the deep crag in his face twitching a he try to figure out how to get out of this situation and i wonder if what i be really witness be the actor behind the character try to figure out a way to get out of this movie . ford effort be admirable and but and unfortunately and the half bake script and meager direction undermines any positive bring to the table . it a shame and too and because firewall also feature the talent of veteran such a robert forster ( jackie brown ) and alan arkin ( slum of beverly hill ) and robert patrick ( terminator 2 represent judgment day ) . mary lynn rajskub of 24 fame also star and reprise her role a the only girl you can trust at the office . stick to jack bauer and mary and and i will stick to television when i want a good thriller . incidentally and guess what up next for keifer sutherland represent action thriller the sentinel and with old timer michael douglas in the lead . it just keep get well and doesn not it . copyright ( c ) 2006 by lauren simpson .