I'm watching Conan right now and he's interviewing Harrison Ford and I've come to the conclusion that Mr. Ford seriously needs a new agent. Why? Because he keeps making movies like Firewall and whatever else the last Harrison Ford movie was. Those movies are okay, but he can do movies like this in his sleep and what seems to be quite apparent is that Harrison Ford can be pretty weirdly comedic and he must hire Bill Murray's agent.
Bill Murray's getting all the roles (outside of Garfield) that Harrison Ford should be doing. I could totally see Harrison Ford in Lost In Translation or Broken Flowers. Not so much The Life Aquatic or Rushmore and not even specifically all these Murray roles. Perhaps beginning a close association with Steven Soderbergh or the Coen Brothers could do wonders for Harrison Ford's career.
TOP FIVE ROLES THAT I THINK WOULD BE REALLY COOL IF HARRISON FORD HAD DONE THEM
1. Bob Harris in Lost in Translation
2. Bill in Kill Bill
3. Robert Wakefield in Traffic (this was Michael Douglas' part that Ford passed on)
4. Det. Hartigan in Sin City
5. Max Cherry in Jackie Brown
Now I know you might be looking at this and saying, "I just don't picture Harrison Ford in THAT part" but that's the thing. It's called casting against type. Sometimes it's the best way to get something out of someone of Ford's stature who may have fallen into a comfortable and unchallenging groove.
Harrison Ford, if you're reading this (because we ALL know he's a lurker) hire ME as your agent. I'll totally revitalize your career homey.
jake [email] said at 2:18 AM 02-08-2006: Maybe he's just gotten to the point where he never has to work again, so he just waits for a movie for the right money, with the right shooting schedule, and the particular crafts service caterer that he wants.
reggie [email] said at 2:47 AM 02-08-2006: If that's the case then he's been at that point in his career for the last fifteen years or so. I'm sure he made so much money off The Fugitive that he could have probably not made another movie for a very long time.
andrew [email] said at 2:35 AM 02-08-2006: Supposedly, Bob Harris was really based on Harrison Ford. It makes sense, he's a washed-up action movie star. Also, I used to work across the street from his apartment and I'd heard that story about him walking around naked before.
To the above list may I also add:
6. Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson in Ulee's Gold which I actually think Ford would've been fantastic in. It's a very stoic and reserved character that plays right up Ford's alley.
milky [email] said at 8:29 AM 02-08-2006: Reggie, he just likes working bland, safe stuff. I don't think his agent has anything to do with it. I don't see him working in an ensemble cast much or a movie where the attention wasn't front and center on him.
reggie [email] said at 8:47 AM 02-08-2006: Oh I know this. It's just that he really let his guard down on Conan and showed a quirky humorous side that I haven't seen in any of his movies.
reggie [email] said at 8:52 AM 02-08-2006: I don't think Max Cherry was all that gritty but more so I was looking at it from the perspective of seeing Harrison Ford play a character who's private little word is flipped upside down when he finds himself falling for a middle-age Black woman he bails out of jail.
Max Cherry is not gritty when he goes to Jackie's place in the morning after dropping her off to get his gun back and they sit down and talk about growing older.
reggie [email] said at 7:48 PM 02-08-2006: Well I don't disagree with you. Carradine was perfect. But don't forget the part was at one time intended for Warren Beatty (who declined.)
I'm not saying Ford would be BETTER in these, I'm just saying it would be interesting to see him try it on for size.
josh [email] said at 11:00 AM 02-08-2006: I honestly disagree with a lot of these. Harrison Ford played against type in "What Lies Beneath" and he sucked ass.
josh [email] said at 11:03 AM 02-08-2006: 1. the character is based on him; that would be weird
2. i agree with blake
3. i can see this one.
4. harrison ford is just not tough enough, and never was, to pull this off. you need an ex-action hero like bruce willis.
5. i could see this one.
reggie [email] said at 7:51 PM 02-08-2006: Well which is dude? You say you disagree with most of these but then you say that 2 of them work and I can't tell how ya feel about Lost in Translation. Sure it may be weird but does that mean you think it wouldn't work?
josh [email] said at 7:40 AM 02-10-2006: 1. i mean, how is it acting if he's playing himself? and why would he be in a movie about how he wanted to/may have cheated on his wife with the daughter of one of his oldest friends?
like i said, i disagree with MOST of these. 3 is most.
josh [email] said at 7:49 AM 02-10-2006: oh i didnt see #6... that movie was not very good, that i recall. ford may have been good in that role; i dunno. i'm sure the producers of the movie wish he had done it, that's for sure. but i barely remember that movie, so it must not have been that great.
reggie [email] said at 9:55 AM 02-10-2006: Ulee's Gold was a very well received movie (I happen to like it a great deal) that got Peter Fonda an Academy Award nomiation as well as a ton of awards/nominations from a range of film festivals/critics groups. Fonda also WON a Golden Globe award and a NY Film Critics award for that part.
josh [email] said at 10:33 AM 02-10-2006: i thought fonda was good but the movie was overly long and just not that good. i like slice of life movies but this didn't really seem like anything special beyond the fact that peter fonda was in it and it came out at a time when peter fonda was trying to re-invent himself.
reggie [email] said at 10:11 AM 02-10-2006: I don't know anything about who Coppola based that role on, if you say it's Ford then fine. But how is it acting if he's playing himself? I don't know? It's not like Jack Nicholson hasn't won awards for doing the same thing. Also, if Ford's ONSCREEN PERSONA as far the general public goes is based on their memories of Richard Kimble, Indiana Jones and Han Solo then they've NEVER seen Harrison Ford "play himself" before anyway. Which, since he would not be playing the type of character we're used to seeing automatically makes it more challenging than anything he's done in the past.
I don't know how many movies you've acted in but "playing yourself" is not as easy at it sounds. Especially when you're talking about small character pieces versus big event movies. Schwarzennegger and Stallone have made CAREERS off of playing themselves but those are action movies. The selling point in most action movies are "come see Stallone be STALLONE and watch things blow up real good."
Yet how is Bill Murray as Bob Harris in Lost in Translation any different from Bill Murray the actor? Bill Murray has revitalized his career ostensibly by "playing himself" which is sort of what I was talking about.
By the way, I just watched a Charlie Rose interview in which Ford said he'd LOVE to become a character actor in these latter stages of his career (that obviously excludes Indy 4) and admires the work that Clooney has done.
He ALSO mentioned that for most of his career he never had an agent and only recently acquired one with the intention of developing stories from younger writers/directors that he previously didn't have an opportunity to do in the past because usually the studios just hired him to do these big event movies with the parts already in place.
WHICH, is exactly the thing I'm stating he needs to do with the rest of his career.
josh [email] said at 10:24 AM 02-10-2006: uhhhh... i mean, literally playing himself. as in, the movie is apparently based on real events that happened to him and sofia coppola. not that he would just be playing himself in a clint eastwood sort of way... i mean, harrison ford pretty much does than anyway in 90% of the roles he has ever done... ive seen all his movies except for like 3 and out of 20 movies he has like 4-5 characters, maybe.
i guess it would be pretty postmodern for him to be in a movie based on real events in his life, but i just can't see him doing it... nor do i think it would maybe be a good idea to do it... it would be sort of creepy to star in a movie based on a real life story about how he wanted to/may have had sex with an old friend's daughter... especially if it was directed by that daughter.
i don't know about you, but that is pretty creepy sounding to me.
reggie [email] said at 10:40 AM 02-10-2006: Okay. Fine. Whatever. What is clear is that perhaps you are missing the point entirely. I couldn't possibly care one iota of a smidgen less if Bob Harris is based on Harrison Ford or not.
Ahem:
THE POINT OF THE POST IS THAT HARRISON FORD SHOULD START LOOKING FOR ROLES IN SMALLER CHARACTER DRIVEN FILMS SUCH AS LOST IN TRANSLATION IN ORDER TO PROVE HIMSELF AS MORE THAN A ONE-NOTE ACTOR, SOMETHING I'M SAYING HE IS CAPABLE OF DOING IF PLACED IN THE HANDS OF A COMPETENT DIRECTOR.
On top of that, as I mentioned in my reference to the Charlie Rose interview THAT IS SOMETHING THAT HE HIMSELF IS LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH by hiring an agency for the first time in his career (according to him)with the purpose of seeking out more character-driven material. (Plus he's over 60 years old and his body really can't take much more of the punishment his usual roles put him through.)
josh [email] said at 10:59 AM 02-10-2006: Maybe... we'll see, I guess. His next 3 planned movies are all action roles. If he stays healthy past the 4-5 years it will take to do them, maybe he will do some interesting roles...
I just am not so sure, because every movie I've seen of his (since the late 70s anyway) where he tried to play against type, he sucked in:
Bladerunner - he defines wooden in this, and the voice-over he does is laughable (though some claim he intentionally made it bad, and intentionally acted poorly, because he hated Ridley Scott). Still a great movie, though.
Mosquito Coast - his performance as the dad gone crazy is pretty terrible...
Working Girl - he proves he is not good at comedy. Nor at playing a jerk.
Regarding Henry - i only vaguely remember this, but his is pretty bad as the brain damaged Henry... unintentionally comic at times.
Sabrina - wow, was this terrible. and he was stiff as hell.
What Lies Beneath - very hammy.
K-19: Widowmaker - i'll gie him this one because he was hampered by an unconvincing accent... just a bad decision.
As far as being able to shine under a competent director, those films I listed were done by the likes of: Robert Zemekis, Mike Nichols, Peter Weir, Ridley Scott, and Sydney Pollack. I would say they are, overall, a pretty competent group of directors.
reggie [email] said at 11:15 AM 02-10-2006: Okay. Given all of those, the fact remains those were still studio pics that were "for hire" jobs. Of those directors I'd say yes they are all competent directors but I don't necessarily equate Ridley Scott, Robert Zemeckis and Peter Weir with small character driven movies. Those are all BIG character driven pieces.
Long after Burt Reynolds was BURT REYNOLDS, he gave two very solid performances in a couple of smaller films called Citizen Ruth and Boogie Nights. Now he hasn't done a whole heckuva lot since then but magic can happen.
That said, the movie Manhunt that Ford is doing isn't necessarily an action movie it's probably going to be more of an historical "thriller" based on what I know of the book, which I have a promo copy of but have yet to read.
However, Mr. Ford if Jim Jarmusch, Spike Jonze, Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson or Steven Soderbergh's name should pop up on your caller ID -- TAKE THAT CALL!
josh [email] said at 11:47 AM 02-10-2006: He really should have done Traffic, that would have been a perfect fit. He seems to have a fear of edgy films...
reggie [email] said at 2:26 AM 02-11-2006: Yeah. And I don't mean to slight Michael Douglas who was solid but it just would've been interesting to see Ford do that movie.
Just like David Carradine was great in Kill Bill but what would Warren Beatty be like?
chrisx [email] said at 2:20 PM 02-12-2006: Josh. Never, ever say anything negative about Blade Runner again. Even if you are right- do not utter the words. Keep it to yourself, and I'll do the same with 'those photos'. Fair warning.
reggie [email] said at 10:33 AM 02-13-2006: By the way, based upon what I have read, it appears Bill Murray based his performance in the whiskey commercial segments on similar commercials that he had seen Harrison Ford do.
josh [email] said at 11:07 AM 02-13-2006: Yeap, defnitely. Supposedly Scarlett is Sophia, Giovanni Ribisi is Spike, Bill is Harrison. Who knows for sure, though.
reggie [email] said at 11:44 AM 02-13-2006: But what I'm saying is Bill Murray based that specific part of his performance on Ford, not that Coppola based the entire role on Ford.
I haven't seen where Coppola wrote the role with Ford in mind as the basis.
josh [email] said at 11:57 AM 02-13-2006: Whenever the movie came out, that was the rumor - that it was autobiographical, and she had an affair or an almost affair with an older hollywood leading man while spike was off doing his thing (this was back before she had a carrer)... I know it's been discussed, and linked, on here before- probably in that huge lost in translation thread of yore.
reggie [email] said at 7:55 PM 02-08-2006: I know that. But you're talking about a thriller/suspense movie. I didn't see What Lies Beneath because it looked like an overall sucky movie.
None of the six movies I list are sucky movies. And Tarantino specifically has a talent for getting things out of actors nobody expects to pull off what they pull off, i.e. Travolta, Robert Forster, Darryl Hannah.
milky [email] said at 10:15 PM 02-08-2006: and ditch the stick he's dating (i think he needs an agent to get another woman, maybe...i think his acting has gone downhill since the mid 90s).
amy [email] said at 2:37 AM 02-10-2006: harrison ford in brokeback mountain
harrison ford replacing jack nicholson in About Schmidt
he's never done a period piece-how bout working with brannagh
how bout adam sandler
how bout a nice love story with queen latifah???
cecil [email] said at 2:48 AM 02-11-2006: STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY, DON'T TOUCH MY FAMILY, I'M THE PRESIDENT STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MY FAMILY, YOU FUCK WITH MY FAMILY YOU FUCK WITH HAN SOLO FUCKER, CHEWEY GET US OUTTA HERE!!
dianne [email] said at 7:28 AM 02-11-2006: he's still dating calista? that's just ... icky.
i agree with reggie -- the movies ford was sucky in were big-budget formula scholckfests. "Regarding Henry"? wasn't that one of those disingenuous 80s FAMILY movies about how it's better to be brain-damaged than too ambitious?
given a good off-kilter part, i think he'd be hilarious.
julie [email] said at 2:54 PM 02-12-2006: Harrison Ford would not have been good in any of those roles, because: Harrison Ford is not a good actor. He never was. He was a good action star, and he was a good-looking smart-ass. Now, he's just a sad old guy with no apparent sense of humor, and no apparent clue that he's not young or hot anymore.
He is not worthy of being a leading man right now, and hasn't since he sunk a certain stinker called Air Force One. He should be lucky to get the parts Donald Sutherland passes on at this point.
chrisx [email] said at 3:19 PM 02-12-2006: Julie, why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate America? Don't you realize that these words of your could cause riots, fires, murder and looting that would make all this muslim/cartoon stuff look like a baptist bakesale?
julie [email] said at 4:12 PM 02-12-2006: Have you ever seen Six Days Seven Nights? ...Well, I have.
I used to really like HF, back when he was rescuing errant hikers in Montana in his helicopter, and I liked his ex-wife Melissa, who got put on the blacklist of people who can never visit Tibet for writing the Kundun screenplay. I'm just as sad as the next person that he's become a big ball of suck.
chrisx [email] said at 3:38 PM 02-12-2006: If you are willing to forgive Gary Oldman for that film, you have to forgive ol' Harrison as well.
I think it's a real shame that action stars are saddled with such terrible one-liners before or after a particularly violent action scene to break the tension. It's what we would have referred to as "gay" when I was a young buck.
reggie [email] said at 9:42 AM 02-13-2006: Now, he's just a sad old guy with no apparent sense of humor,
Oh but he DOES have a sense of humor. It's a very weird, dry sense of humor but it is a sense of humor. It's really deadpan, like if Steven Wright were an aging action star.
Here's the thing. Remember how you said that comedians were very good at impersonations that's why Jamie Foxxx was able to pull off Ray Charles, Jim Carrey was able to pull of Andy Kaufman to name a few.
I don't think Ford's been challenged by anyone in his career. He hasn't needed to because he's always been HARRISON FORD grrrrrr. He's only had to be gruff and point that deadly Harrison Ford finger of doom and say things like "Get off my plane," or "Give me back my family."
With the right script. With the right director. It could happen.
josh [email] said at 11:07 AM 02-13-2006: I agree with this... but wasn't Air Force One a huge hit? I mean, dumb movie, but I think it was a big success at the box office.
reggie [email] said at 11:13 AM 02-13-2006: AFO was a really big hit. I remember enjoying it at the time. I even own on it VHS but haven't been compelled to watch it in a number of years.
brad [email] said at 3:21 PM 02-12-2006: I'd like to see Harrison Ford as Frank in Blue Velvet. How amusing would it be to see him as a psycho who says things like, "Baby wants to FUUUCK!"
reggie [email] said at 10:16 AM 02-13-2006: From efavata.com:
February 21, 2004: Variety reports that David Cronenberg ("Spider") will direct A History of Violence at New Line Cinema, the first book in the Paradox Graphic Mystery line of books published by Paradox Press/DC Comics. The second book in the series was Road to Perdition, on which the Tom Hanks film was based on.
The plot of the graphic novel follows an ordinary family's life after the father receives unwanted national attention for a seemingly vigilante self-defense killing at his diner and his previously unknown past is dredged up.
The novel was written by Judge Dredd creator John Wagner. "Violence" was adapted by screenwriter Josh Olson, who also wrote "Three Gun Blues," set up at Paramount. Nic Cage and Harrison Ford are rumoured to be up for the adaptation which David Cronenberg is helming.
josh [email] said at 11:09 AM 02-13-2006: I'd like to point out that, if this is the case, he's not in the movie because he dropped out. Not because they didn't pick him. He probably decided "Hollywood Homicide" was a better career choice.
josh [email] said at 11:32 AM 02-13-2006: ebert and roeper gave this a not terrible review... well, ebert did. he seems to like every movie, though... i wish there were more movie review podcasts. anyone know of any good ones?
reggie [email] said at 11:42 AM 02-13-2006: I think just about everyone's given this a horrible review.
I love Ebert but the flaw in his system is that four stars for one movie doesn't necessarily mean the same as four stars for another movie.
In other words. He'll give an action movie four stars and then turn around a give a dramatic film three stars even if that dramatic film is technically a better film than the action film. His logic is that if the action movie works within the specific characteristics of an action movie then it's a four star ACTION movie. But if the dramatic movie doesn't quite accomplish what it sets out to as a dramatic movie then it gets three dramatic-movie stars.
It makes sense but it also makes for some very inconsistent ratings.
reggie [email] said at 11:19 AM 02-13-2006: Wiggo Whatever! Were I drinking milk at the time it most certainly would have spewed from my nose: the name is Viggo Mortensen.
