Rick Deckard, Indiana Jones, and the one and only Han Solo — the same man played all three of these iconic characters, and his name isHarrison Ford. One of the most influential figures in Hollywood, Ford has made critical contributions to American cinema. It took him a while to get noticed, through a couple of uncredited roles before his first screen credit as a minor character inA Time for Killing(1967). Then followed a decade of minor roles, including inAmerican Graffiti, one of George Lucas’two good movies he made before the amazingStar Wars.
At the end of those 10 years, in 1977, Ford and Lucas worked together a second time, giving Ford his iconicbreakout role that he’s most known for.Ford became a bonafide movie star overnightand has come to be best known for his roles in franchises. Most recently,Harrison Ford joined the MCU as Red Hulk, or President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross inCaptain America: Brave New World.However, he’s been in great movies outside his work in franchises, including Francis Ford Coppola’sApocalypse Nowin a minor role, his second time working with the famous director.
A romcom featuring Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford,Working Girlis one of Ford’s most forgotten movies. However, when it came out, Mike Nichols' movie won both critical and commercial success, including six Oscar nominations. While only Carly Simon won the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Let the River Run”,the film put Melanie Griffith on the map and on critics' radarsas someone to watch out for. Prior toWorking Girl, Griffith had been in the news for her private life and the titillating movie roles that defined her career until then.
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Working Girlisn’t just the story of Griffith’s character being a professional go-getter fighting against patriarchal standards and impressions of her, it’s Griffith’s story of being the same. Hollywood had sidelined her as being a sex icon not meant for serious roles, just like her character, Tess, is written off as an attractive secretary not meant for more. Tess then decides to pretend to be her boss so she can rise up the corporate ladder. It’s during a meeting in her boss' stead that she encounters Ford’s character, Jack Trainer, and the two sleep together.
All major female performances inWorking Girlwere nominated for Oscars: one Lead Actress nomination for Melanie Griffith, and two Supporting Actress nominations for Sigourney Weaver and Joan Cusack.
Ford’s role is mostly as a suave gentleman who respects Tessas a woman and working professional. Jack is one of the few men who sees her skills and decides to work with her for a merger. The chemistry between Griffith and Ford helps sell the romance angle, as the effortlessly flirtatious energy they share when working together naturally rolls into their romance later on. It’s one of the more influential movies of the 1980s, as it changed the working woman archetype and influenced the lives of many women of that time.
Based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow,Presumed Innocentfollows Rusty Sabich, an assistant district attorney who gets caught in a web of lies and a twisted trial.The rape and murder of his colleague Carolyn opens up an investigation and his boss wants Rusty to lead it. However, things are complicated for him because of his affair with Carolyn. The story takes sinister turns at regular intervals, with more revelations about people’s intentions towards the case, and incriminating details pointing to Rusty as the murderer.
Presumed Innocentis very much a product of its time, although it simultaneously uses 1940s noir sensibilities to craft and unfold the twisted narrative. Ford’s Rusty is morally ambiguous, although he isn’t guilty of the crime being investigated, and his voiceover monologues are typical of classic noir films. The ’90s sleaze meets the ’40s crime thriller, but as interesting as the story is, its strength lies in the exploration of the working man’s depravity. The sexual politics and the use of this investigation by the men for their political needs will make viewers uncomfortable.
The sleazy energy somehow perfectly complements the serious and sinister nature of the crime and the investigation.
Ford’s chemistry with frequent femme fatale actress Greta Scacchi and with Bonny Bedelia, who plays his character’s wife, are capitalized on throughout the movie. The sleazy energy somehow perfectly complements the serious and sinister nature of the crime and the investigation, andFord’s seamless performance as the vengeful, disturbed, and confused lawyer is the highlight ofPresumed Innocent.The recentPresumed InnocentTV showbased on the same book that inspired the movie, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, struggles much more to balance the two, proving how well the movie was made.
342 (2013)
As Branch Rickey
Chronicling the rise of revolutionary baseball player Jackie Robinson, played by the late Chadwick Boseman,42is a powerful sports biopic. Showcasing the world of baseball in the years following the Second World War up to the late ’60s and even later, the business is very different from what it is today.Jack Roosevelt Robinson, nicknamed Jackie, was the first Black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). When he played for the Dodgers in 1947, he crossed the color line, inspiring others to follow him in years to come.
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One of Ford’s greatest performances, he is the secondary character of the Dodgers owner, who picked Robinson to join his team, playing a pivotal role in helping Robinson reach the MLB. He’s depicted as a color-blind team owner, who prioritizes talent over everything, combatting racism with his lifestyle and his professional work. However,42triumphs as a biopic bynot becoming a white savior story centered on Ford’s character. Boseman’s Robinson is clearly the protagonist and his superior performance makes every narrative beat impactful on viewers.
The title of the movie refers to Jackie Robinson’s jersey number 42, which was retired from the entire MLB.
The emotional journey of triumph, carefully crafted into a narrative of anti-racism activism with heartwarming moments for Robinson in his personal life makes42a fantastic biopic. The score adds to the emotional depth of the movie with its evocatively inspirational notes. Every cast member does a brilliant job, bringingsome of the baseball players in42being the most successful in the history of the sport.Boseman delivered one of his greatest performances as the film’s protagonist, and it belongs in a hall of fame,much like his character.
In his illustrious career,Harrison Ford has only been nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award once,and that was for his role inWitness. It’s a crime thriller where Ford’s character, a city cop, has to join an Amish community to hide from corrupt officials who are covering for a murdering cop. On paper, this premise sounds silly, promising perhaps an exciting action thriller with some traditional Harrison Ford action and slick one-liners. However,Witnessis surprisingly sweet, slow, and a much more holistic viewing experience than it sounds like.
Best Original Score
Maurice Jarre
John Book is a capable detective and action hero,but he’s also a skilled carpenter, a smooth talker, and a caring man. While he’s diligent with his work and follows up on the lead provided by a young boy, the only witness to the murder, he’s more concerned with protecting the boy and his mother. His transformation into a non-violent carpenter who makes house calls while living with the Amish community also endears him to the audience. He’s an action hero too, and the final act’s chock-full of chases, one-liners, and gun-toting, as is expected of a Harrison Ford action flick.
Peter Weir, who has directed an impressive roster of movies, fromDead Poets SocietyandThe Truman ShowtoPicnic at Hanging RockandGallipoli, earned his first Best Director Oscar nomination forWitness. The film garnered eight nominations and even won in two categories, those of editing and screenwriting. Most notably, Ford’s Best Actor nomination forWitnessremains his only Oscar nomination to date.Witnessfeatures arguably Harrison Ford’s best performanceof all time, perhaps even better than his performances in his famous franchise movies.
Perhaps Ford’s most famous role outside his work in film franchises is as Dr. Richard Kimble, the protagonist ofThe Fugitive, which follows a surgeon who is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife.Kimblebecomes a fugitive from the lawwhen he escapes to try and find his wife’s actual killer,so he can bring him to justice and clear his own name. However, this proves difficult for him, as he keeps encountering police at various junctures, and the charges against him go up after one of his suspects kills a police officer.
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The movie plays like an action-heavy crime thriller, where Ford’s Kimble performs some life-threatening stunts to escape capture and confront his suspects. The web of lies that led to the unfortunate death of Kimble’s wife also addresses corporate greed and the corruption prevalent in many Big Pharma companies. This aspect of social commentary makes Kimble’s mission even more altruistic and turns him into a certified action movie hero. The breakneck pace of the narrative adds to viewers' anxiety as Kimble keeps narrowly escaping death and capture.
Ford’simage as an action star had already been established through his performances as Deckard, Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Jack Ryan. However, what makesThe Fugitiveeven more appealing is the fact that Kimble isn’t an established spy or action-ready character. He’s simply a common man on a mission against a corrupt system that punishes his goodness, resulting in his wife’s murder, and eventual conviction and death sentence. He’s a white-collar worker down on his luck and forced to become an action hero to save his life. This makes his story even more compelling, as well as being acted out byHarrison Ford.
