The Mystery of Harrison Ford...

[Mike 03]

Maybe I'm way, way off base. I loved him in he first three Indiana Jones pictures, and I liked him in the first Star Wars...

But when he really began to act, in films like Peter Weir's Mosquito Coast (which I thought was a brialliant film), he began to get cut down by the critics.

Polanski tried to give him credibility with "Frantic," but it was a poorly scripted and dumb picture and didn't help much, and made Polanski look lame, like a pale shadow of the Roman Polanski who directed "Chinatown."

He attempted to move into making actual artistic films, and the critics bashed him backwards into making stupid ass films like those which puncutate the remainder of his career.

Maybe I'm completely insane, but the closest I think Harrison Ford came to making art was the adaptation of Mosquito Coast, directed by Peter Weir.

I remember a conversation with my literary agent at the time that film came out. The point of it was that I was trying to convince her that unusual projects could be great and she said, "Yes, it shows us something we have never seen before," but it was "not commercial."

:banghead:

[SoxFan]

1. Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and nuzzles Callista Flockhart

We're not worthy.

[MorningGlow]

2. As my son starts to watch more PG movies

I've come to realize that most of my favorite flicks have Harrison Ford in them. My son has seen the Star Wars original trilogy; all the Indiana Jones movies; the parts of American Graffiti with more cars than sex (hey, he's 5); and when he's old enough, he is SOOOOO watching Blade Runner. Add Witness and Working Girl and The Fugitive and Mosquito Coast, and you've got a huge chunk of my video library. Dude's everywhere. So the question is, must an actor create "art" (and exactly what is that anyway--the Oscar-worthy scenery-chewing tragic roles only?), or is it enough to be in most of the classic movies of the second-half of the 20th century?

Personally, I think he did some great work in Regarding Henry, but that one went down the memory hole for most folks.

ETA: Perhaps the definition of "great acting" is breathing life into George Lucas' stilted scripts...? :shrug:

[Shell Beau]

3. I loved him in the Indiana Jones movies.

I have not seen the most recent one, so I can't really say if I still like him, but I do dig Harrison Ford.

[Lars39]

4. He was really good in Witness.

It's a classic, imo.

[AlCzervik]

5. Best movie that was he was in was The Conversation.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

7. That was a good performance.

I also liked how Robert Duvall barely had any lines but still made an impact.

[AlCzervik]

8. yup, a quality film.

:hi:

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. Personally, I think Peter Weir is a genius.

[MajorChode]

9. Here's a little short film that shows his personal side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsgiEubacT0&fmt=6

[mitchum]

10. He's been in great films, but never as "the star"...

American Graffiti
The Conversation
Apocalypse Now

[blogslut]

11. I saw his potential in a film called "Heroes"

He played a Vietnam vet with PTSD. I got almost through the whole flick before I realized that was Han Solo.

Sure, Heroes was a bit corny but screw it, I like road pictures and I thought Winkler, Fields and Ford were good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_(film)

[MrScorpio]

12. Actually, I like him in Frantic

He wasn't slick. Just an ordinary Joe

[Bryan]

13. You're being a little easy on Ford, I think

He caved in and stopped taking chances. For example, he was up for the role Michael Douglas played in Traffic, but he got cold feet.

[Frank Cannon]

14. He does an excellent job in Blade Runner

See one of the versions without the corny narration, if you can.

[jeff30997]

15. "Frantic... was a poorly scripted and dumb picture"

It was 10 time worst...in French.I'm French-Canuck so I saw the translated version.Gee they gave him

an awful accent that was supposed to explain why most peoples couldn't understand what he was

saying.What started as a suspense ended up more of a comedy. :rofl:

And I think that he really jumped the shark with Air Farce One."Get Off My Plane!!!"

Gawed! He was DTM after that.That's one of the reasons I'm really not sure I'll

watch the last Indiana Jones.x(

[MilesColtrane]

16. He's one of those actors that needs a good director to come off well.

I've seen several appearances by him on talk shows and I'm always struck by just how bland and colorless he is in real life.

Good directors seem to be able to elevate his acting abilities to overcome this anti-charisma.

[jobycom]

17. Odd. I remember critics loving him in Mosquito Coast, and Witness, and other films.

Critics liked him. None of his films were really Best Actor material, but he showed he was more than a tough guy actor. As he aged, his roles went down, and he got stuck with stuff like "Six Days and Seven Nights" and "Sabrina" instead of building on "Mosquito Coast," "Regarding Henry," and "Witness" (He was nominated for an Oscar in the latter). But he was often talked about as a serious actor who just hadn't gotten the right role yet.

He reminds me in a lot of ways of Humphrey Bogart--he's very likable, has genuine talent and skill, but seems to be best in the type of films that don't get Oscars. He rarely takes a role that stretches him, and the Academy seems to judge actors against themselves as much as against other actors.