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Firewall (12A)

Anthony Quinn
Friday 31 March 2006 00:00 BST
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Last week it was Clive Owen spearheading the heist in Inside Man. This week's Brit criminal mastermind is Paul Bettany, who's blackmailed Harrison Ford's security-systems exec into breaching his own alarm codes and robbing the bank he works for. The first half-hour, which taps into middle-class fears of home invasion and identity theft, is quite taut and nicely paced, even if Bettany's switch of accent mid-picture is baffling.

But once again, it's the familiar story of good set-up, weak follow-through, as Ford's rugged individualism steps up to save a) his wife and kids, b) the bank's millions, c) the day. In a late plot development, the collar on the family's beloved mutt becomes a vital tool in Ford's attempt to thwart the robbers, thus introducing an element of farce into an already wobbly structure.

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