Movies - For Ford, high tech meets old school

Indiana Jones has an iPod. That doesn't mean he's whipped it out and downloaded John Williams' theme music, however.

Harrison Ford received his digital music player as a wrap gift after completing filming on his newest thriller, "Firewall," in which an iPod plays an important role as a plot device. But the man who starred as Han Solo in the original trilogy and Indy in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and its two sequels isn't that much of a technology nut - maybe one of the reasons he hasn't figured out how it works yet.

"I'm not so invested in computer stuff," the 63-year-old actor admits. "Of course, I use them like everybody else does for my schedule and phonebook and everything else, but I'm not especially computer savvy."

Ford did have to bone up a little, doing research in the world of bank security for "Firewall." He stars as Jack Stanfield, a high-tech specialist who's manipulated by a mysterious man (Paul Bettany) into funneling millions of dollars into a foreign account using the banks' security system. Of course, Jack's family is being held hostage - nothing is ever easy for the hero in a Harrison Ford movie - and he has to figure out a way to appease the villain, get the job done, save his family and avoid law enforcement.

Ford says the filmmakers tested the film on people in the banking community and computer experts and made sure the plot was somewhat realistic - "They did not find us wide of the mark," he says - but as an actor, he was much more attracted to the dramatic aspect than the technological one.

"It was a strong story and the family in jeopardy was a great emotional context for it," says Ford, a family man himself with four kids from two marriages. "I thought it would be a film that would be engaging for an audience both on the plot level and on the emotional level."

Even the stunts were low-tech and enjoyable for the movie star, from climbing down the top of a building to a gritty, tough climactic fight scene. He is Harrison Ford, though, so there was a stuntman there to take a fall from a rickety porch into a trench.

"Both he and I knew that that was gonna hurt," Ford deadpans, "so I gave him that. He had to do something."

Ford is remaining relatively old school - old as in 1865, to be precise - for his next film, "Manhunt." The drama chronicles the search for John Wilkes Booth after his assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Washington's Ford Theatre, with Ford playing the leader of the chase, Col. Everton Conger.

Lincoln's life and legend has always been a fascination for Ford since he grew up in Illinois, he says, and was interested in a subplot of the assassination not often told.

"In our contemporary times, there are some very strong resonances," Ford says. "They say the lesson of history is to help you avoid the mistakes of the past, and it's a very interesting story. It has lots of things to say about our present, indirectly."

Something about Harry

- Harrison Ford, a former carpenter, was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1998.

- His second wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the script for "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial."

- Before production started on "Air Force One," Ford reportedly replaced Kevin Costner - who had replaced Ford in "The Untouchables."

- By Brian Truitt, Examiner Staff Writer