Harrison Ford is such a popular, warm, and likable actor, he can't help but elevate any film in which he appears. Of course, a few weren't worth elevating, like Sabrina, Six Days, Seven Nights, What Lies Beneath) but every prolific actor has a few clinkers. And no matter what, he's always good.
Here he plays Henry, a real legal shark, the stereotypical type, who is shot when he goes into a store to buy cigarettes. He is shot in his frontal lobe, which means he has lost his memory, which includes how to talk, walk, tie his shoes, and remember his wife Sarah (Annette Bening) and daughter (Mikki Allen). It's a long, slow road, but he connects with his therapist, Bradley (Bill Nunn), so much so that when it's time to go home, Henry doesn't want to leave.
We see Henry after his rehab but before he is completely well. In cases like this, while a great deal of his memory may never return, he probably will become a little sharper as time goes on. Here, he speaks slowly without much affect and though he can take in what he reads, it's obvious he won't return to the law. He's changed and realizes that he doesn't like the old self reflected to him in the law firm and in the shallow people who were supposedly his friends. The people around him - the housekeeper, his wife, and even his daughter - like this Henry a lot better. But he learns the past was more complicated than the present.
Let's face it, without Ford, this could have been a movie of the week. With Ford, it's a feel-good story, if predictable. He's wonderful, as is Annette Bening who struggles to get used to the new Henry. They are surrounded by some strong TV and film people.
I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Ford after transcribing an interview with him while he was making an Indiana Jones film. He and the interviewer were in a coffee shop in some out of the way place, and a man approached them and talked to him. He walked away, and them he came back and asked if Ford signs autographs. "Let me ask you something," Ford says, "when you go to the movies, do you pay for a ticket?" "Yes," the man says. "Then I sign autographs," Ford answers. He's a class act - all the way.
Here he plays Henry, a real legal shark, the stereotypical type, who is shot when he goes into a store to buy cigarettes. He is shot in his frontal lobe, which means he has lost his memory, which includes how to talk, walk, tie his shoes, and remember his wife Sarah (Annette Bening) and daughter (Mikki Allen). It's a long, slow road, but he connects with his therapist, Bradley (Bill Nunn), so much so that when it's time to go home, Henry doesn't want to leave.
We see Henry after his rehab but before he is completely well. In cases like this, while a great deal of his memory may never return, he probably will become a little sharper as time goes on. Here, he speaks slowly without much affect and though he can take in what he reads, it's obvious he won't return to the law. He's changed and realizes that he doesn't like the old self reflected to him in the law firm and in the shallow people who were supposedly his friends. The people around him - the housekeeper, his wife, and even his daughter - like this Henry a lot better. But he learns the past was more complicated than the present.
Let's face it, without Ford, this could have been a movie of the week. With Ford, it's a feel-good story, if predictable. He's wonderful, as is Annette Bening who struggles to get used to the new Henry. They are surrounded by some strong TV and film people.
I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Ford after transcribing an interview with him while he was making an Indiana Jones film. He and the interviewer were in a coffee shop in some out of the way place, and a man approached them and talked to him. He walked away, and them he came back and asked if Ford signs autographs. "Let me ask you something," Ford says, "when you go to the movies, do you pay for a ticket?" "Yes," the man says. "Then I sign autographs," Ford answers. He's a class act - all the way.