HARRISON FORD LOOKS troubled. He has been politely fielding questions over breakfast at his Santa Monica hotel suite when the subject turns to a certain swashbuckling archaeologist. Outside, the Pacific Ocean is bathed in brilliant sunshine. But when asked about the status of the much-touted fourth Indiana Jones movie, it's as if a cloud has drifted into the room. 'Dark gloom,' he replies with a scowl.
Quite what it is about the prospect of donning the fedora and bullwhip once again that fills him with dread Ford doesn't say, but it surely can't have anything to do with subjecting his 63-year-old body to the rigours of an adventure film, judging by his athletic performance in the upcoming Firewall.
Admittedly, there are a few fight scenes where Ford appears to be gasping for breath a little too convincingly. The ageing star says that, although action sequences aren't getting any easier, they aren't getting any harder, either.
'It's all smoke and mirrors, isn't it?' Ford says. 'It's one little piece at a time and it's like choreographing a dance. I enjoy it as part of the storytelling process, but I also enjoy the physical work that's involved.' He insists that he's required to do little more than 'stretch and put the pads in the right place' to prepare for such roles. Surely it must be harder than that?
'Well if it is, I've protected myself from that knowledge. But, no, it's not much harder than that. I'm not a great workout person. I do a little bit every once in a while but that doesn't last very long. The only thing I do consistently is play tennis.'
Firewall marks Ford's return to the screen after almost three years. (His last feature film was the critically panned 2003 box-office flop Hollywood Homicide.) In Firewall, shot on location in Vancouver, Ford plays an IT security expert who's forced to rob the bank he works for to pay a ransom to a gang of geeky but violent crooks (led by a menacing Paul Bettany) who are holding his wife (Virginia Madsen) and children hostage.
