Live Free or Die Hard

Live Free or Die Hard

Bruce Willis, Justin Long

Imagine Bill Murray as Forrest Gump. He was originally supposed to play him. Imagine a world where Molly Ringwald is still a major star. She probably still would be if she had not turned down the lead roles in Ghost, Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty Woman, and her mom had actually shown her the script to Blue Velvet. Where would Harrison Ford be right now if Christopher Walken hadn’t turned down the role of Han Solo and Tom Seleck could have gotten a break from his Magnum P.I. contract to do Indiana Jones? Probably would still be a carpenter. Picture Halle Berry and Stephen Bladwin trying to keep the bus going over 50 mph in Speed. John Travolta carrying Debra Winger out of the factory in An Officer and a Gentleman. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn going over the cliff in Thelma and Louise. Debra Winger rising out of the tub as Alex in Fatal Attraction. John Wayne, Frank Sinatra or Paul Newman pointing a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, at some punk’s head, saying, “Go ahead, make my day.” David Alan Grier probably would not be washing my car right now if he had accepted the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump. Janeane Garofalo who has always been on the edges of superstardom could have been someone if she had just said yes to the role of Gale Weathers in Scream or Monica in “Friends” (Patsy Kensit also rejected being in the original cast of “Friends.” Courtney Cox should send her flowers and a fruit basket for those stupid decisions.) Robin Wright Penn could have been America’s sweetheart if she hadn’t turned down roles in Batman Forever, The Firm, Born of the Fourth of July, and Jurassic Park? A little known stuntman named Hugh Jackman shot to stardom because Dougray Scott could not fulfill his obligation to play Wolverine. Chevy Chase turned down the lead role in American Beauty, which won Kevin Spacey an Oscar.

It is not very often that an actor gets two bites at the apple and it is usually that one breakthrough role that could make or break a career, and usually 2 or 3 other actors have taken a pass on the project, or the film has languished so long in developmental hell that the cast turns over more often than a pigmy gymnast on speed.

Bruce Willis owes his entire career to being in the right place at the right time. He would probably still be behind a bar in New York City serving drinks if a casting director had not taken a liking to his personality and needed a bartender for a small role in a movie. He probably would not have become a huge movie star, or been just a younger version of Robert Urich, if he had not gotten the role of John McClane in Die Hard, and it could have so easily never have happened. If any one of a number of studio executives over the course of a 20 year period had acted differently, most people would think Bruce Willis was something you got from wearing underwear two sizes to small. In 1968, novelist Roderick Thorp was basking in the glow of the big screen success of his novel The Detective starring Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick. The 20th Century Fox producers told him they wanted a sequel and he set to work on one. The genesis for Die Hard, called Nothing Lasts Forever, was born. Frank Sinatra turned down the idea and Thorp’s novel quickly disappeared to the bottom of the bargain bin. Fifteen years later, after probably hundreds of other executives had looked at the script, Joel Silver fell in love with it, and offered Sinatra a chance to take the role again. The Chairman of the Board rejected the project for a second time. Silver then turned to Robert Mitchum, who felt there was way too much running and jumping for a man his age. With new script after new script, Silver then turned to Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Richard Gere who declined the producer’s offer. Finally, Silver offered the part to Willis, who, while a presence on television with Moonlighting had only two movies under his belt, one of which was a box office bomb (Sunset) and the other a moderate success (Blind Date). Die Hard made Willis’ career and every time his career starts to faulter, like Linus reaching for his security blanket, Willis turns to the Die Hard franchise to make him a box office force again. With his last half dozen films not making the bank the studios hoped and just becoming a new and valued member of AARP, Willis needs the kind of hit that only the Die Hard Franchise can give him.

In a post-Iraq War where Americans crave black-and-white, two-fisted heroes, it is little wonder that Hollywood is digging Rambo, Rocky, Chuck Norris, and half a dozen other action heroes from our past, out of mothballs. A person knew that John McClane could not be too far behind. So given that the cop who always seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time has taken on terrorists who have tried to blow up a building, bring down some airplanes, and rob a bunch of gold from a bank, what kind of terrorist targets are left for the old boy to run around saving people? Computer hacking. A much older divorced John, who has been in and out of rehab, now works for the Department of Homeland Security. As the movie opens, John catches a young hacker (Justin Long –Dodge Ball, Idiocracy) and is bringing him back to Washington. (Where do these cops get the money to drive around in such classic cherry cars?) Well, the bad old terrorists, who are not Arabs because, god forbid we have Arab terrorists, but Hungarians, decide to crash our transit system along the eastern seaboard, causing John to have to take his prisoner by train. At the same time, the New York Stock Exchange computers crash and ATM machines across America close down. Well, shock beyond shock, Folwer, the prisoner, realizes that what is happening is similar to what was written about in a step-by-step book that details how to take down America within three days by the granddaddy of all hackers. Who would have thought? Because this geeks has skills that government-trained geeks don’t seem to have, he has to tag along with John has he tries to capture the gang of bad guys. It wouldn’t be a buddy cop film without a buddy. Where are these terrorists hiding out? What do they actually want? Will John and his wise-cracking little nerd buddy find the bad guys in time?

Watching this film, I was reminded of a one-lunged John Wayne trying to do stunts in Big Jake. One part of your brain tells you that watching Bruce run around like a young buck and then grimace on queue is ridiculous, but at the same time it is somehow reassuring in a strange way. This film is on par with the third film of the franchise. It is a slick action film that follows the cookie cutter formula set up by the previous adventures of John McClane. Is it a great film? No. It is a B/B- movie, but like having Rocky coming out of retirement to put the gloves on one last time, it somehow makes it a better movie than it is. Arnold is in the governor’s mansion. Clint is a director. Sly could not punch his way into a starring role for years. Mel has gone insane. Steven Seagal thinks he is the reincarnation of Tulku. Harrison Ford is more likely to break a hip than make a good film in the last few years. Chuck Norris is the punch line to tough guy jokes. Bruce is the last man standing from our 80s action heroes. So, it is nice to have him around instead of standing behind a bar serving me a drink while I jot done my notes about this movie.

Verdict: On par with the 3^rd film of the franchise