BY RACHEL SHUKERT
I'm going to open with something I believe is an indisputable fact: Harrison Ford is one of the greatest movie stars of all time.
It's a simple case to make. He was the star of two of the greatest action franchises ever made: Indiana Jones and Star Wars. (While his role in the latter was technically a supporting one, compared to the sublime crank Han Solo, Luke Skywalker was so bloodless that Mel Brooks didn't even bother to parody him in Spaceballs). He was the star of every movie they made out of one of those paperback books your dad reads on airplanes, and undoubtedly the star of every fantasy your dad had about the ones they didn't. (Non-sexual, in the case of my own father. I can't speak for yours.) And to top it off, he has a great movie-star name, a name that sounds like a character Harrison Ford would play: masculine, eccentric, and a little bit old-fashioned.
Or maybe just old. A huge part of Ford's appeal has always been his particular brand of geriatric irascibility. His greatest heroes must be unearthed and convinced that only they stand between the Earth (or the galaxy, or the precious treasures of a bygone age) and total destruction before they reluctantly suit up for battle, kvetching all the way. Their crankiness about leaping headlong into possible oblivion was humanizing. It mirrored the way we imagined ourselves reacting if asked to save a colossal bitch of an alien princess or jump into a pit of writhing snakes — we'd do what had to be done, but not without a snarky wisecrack or four.
But surliness only goes so far. The other great stars of Ford's generation have managed to amplify their on-screen personas to match their aging faces. De Niro alternates between twinkly and terrifying. Nicholson gets a lot of mileage with his whole Dirty-Old-Man-Who-Tries-To-Stick-His-Fingers-In-Your-Panties-On-The-Subway-And-Make-You-Like-It shtick (for the record, I wouldn't like it). Pacino can be so theatrical and batshit-crazy that you forget he's 140 years old and beginning to look like one of the vultures in the Disney Robin Hood. But Harrison Ford is still just Harrison Ford, and the attitude that in a young man is disarming or appealingly suggestive of a hidden vulnerability makes an old man seem like, well, like a mean old prick. And nobody wants to buy a ticket to see to a mean old prick. We already have to see the ones we're related to.
Commentarium (14 Comments)
I still have a soft spot for Harrison (really for Indy and Han Solo). I would submit Paul Newman (not quite of my childhood but who doesn't see Cool Hand Luke at some point while enjoying some well-made salad dressing?) as the most gracefully aged and awesome older star followed by Clint Eastwood.
I'm going to give the man an eternal simply because he once was Han Solo and Indiana Jones (and Deckard is all kinds of kick ass). Surly and apathetic these days, but nothing seriously harmful to his legacy.
And the supposed Bill Murray-"Lost in Translation" inspiration just makes me understand his standoffishness even more.
*eternal pass
Paul Newman pulled it off, Clint Eastwood hasn't so much aged gracefully as pounded old age into leathery submission. I'm more willing to give Ford a pass than Brendan Fraser, who could have become the next Harrison Ford if he'd hung on to his pulp-hero credentials.
I'll even forgive Ford for the lackluster "Crystal Skull" because of a) the fact the the whole movie seemed designed to remind us that Ford is still way cooler than Shia Labouef, and b)action-MILF Karen Allen who still has one of the best smiles in the biz.
I've been a fan of his since grade school. I wore an IJ button on my uniform to school. The girls made fun of me for liking an "old guy" - joke was on them when he was named one of People's "Sexiest Men Alive." Personally I could care less what he does in his personal life. The characters he brought to life on screen made me a fan. There are no stories of spousal abuse, cheating, misuse of drugs to come out of his failed marriage. If he wants to wear an earring so be it. He could still kick the butt of almost every adversary out there. I think he's aging quite nicely!
You're right, he was always cranky (and charmless), but what I really can't forgive is his mispronouncing "Adaptation" as "Adaption" twice when he was a presenter at the Academy Awards.
Impressive wordsmithing. However I too still have a soft spot for the geriatric Ford. I've got to admit that I'm dating a young Fordian archetype.
I'll forgive Harrison anything... except for hooking up with the uber-annoying one trick pony of an actress, Calista Flockhart. Bad taste, Harrison. Very bad.
I used to be a giant fan years ago and then I read and saw a few interviews with him and because of a few things he said I started to sense that he was more a businessman than an artist. Nothing wrong with that, by the way, just not as appealing when what you admire is the art.
A recent appearance on Letterman confirmed for me that is a selfish greedy prick when he said that the only reason he even signed a few autographs on the way in is because the shows camera was on him. He made the statement that those people wanting autographs were not fans, they were “merchants” and without the camera on him he would have signed no autographs.
I understand the first thought is, good for him, damn those vultures making money off him. But, think this through, the only real reason anyone would care about someone making money off their signature is that they do not get a cut. The autograph ends up in the hands of a fan regardless. To be honest, someone that pays for the signature is probably a bigger fan on average than people that only get the autograph if it is free.
Another actor, I wish I could remember the name, got it right when he said he loves signing for the guys that resell the autographs, not only does he know a true fan that otherwise will probably never get the chance to meet him and get an autograph, gets an autograph, but he also knows that he helped someone who will never make as much money as he does, make some money. He also pointed that he realized the more autographs he signs the cheaper his signature sells for on the open market. His fans win both ways, they get the autograph and they get it cheaper and he even makes someone a few dollars in the process.
A very intelligent understanding of economics and a very humble way of understanding the importance of your celebrity.
Mr Ford also probably has an ego about how much his signature goes for on the open market and probably thinks its because he is so important and famous. Screw you Harrison.
He's just always seemed kind of...cold to me. And that's gotten chillier as time goes on
Harrison Ford seems charmless, sad and flailing through a midlife crisis. The earring and dumping his wife for Calista Flockheart did it for me. Luckily, I can separate reality from fiction and still respect Han Solo and the TRILOGY of the Indiana Jones sequels.
Just for the record I like to say that I imagine the earring was part of some promise to one of his children about them say graduating or something. Maybe I'm just fantasizing, but an earring is excusable in an instance like that, like those principals of schools that get their hair put in corn rows if the students read a certain amount, that type of thing. It would be like HF to have an excuse like that but not say it, as part of the bet. But anyway, I'll always love the guy - sure, he's had some difficulty finding himself recently, but I still have some faith a couple great roles still await him. What you say is true though, the Han Solo type attitude is cool in a guy under 50 or 55 or so, but once a guy gets older it's indiscernible from just a regular cranky old man. Makes you wonder how many guys ranting at the grocery store line ups were "sexy bad boys" when they were younger. The guy version of bitchy Veronica Lodge types who age into old crabs.
What the public doesn't know about Harrison Ford is that he abused his first wife, Mary. She divorced him and married my cousin. All the dirt came out and we knew the real man behind the mask. Despicable.
i am your biggest fan,why did you pears your ear?:-)