Harrison Ford is coming back to the big screen in a big way. According to Variety, he will be taking the title role in CBS Films' Crowley. Before your heart stops at the idea that he will be in a television movie about Aleister Crowley -- it isn't that Crowley, and CBS intends this to be a theatrical release. The movie is the real-life story of John and Aileen Crowley, whose two children suffered from a rare genetic disorder. Rather than give up hope that nothing could be done for them, they sought out a researcher for a cure. Surprisingly, Ford will not be playing the father, but the researcher. And he'll also be the executive producer.
Tom Vaughan is in talks to direct, and Robert Nelson Jacobs penned the script, which is based on Geeta Anand's book Cure. (Let's hope they switch the title back to that of Anand's book, which is far more suitable than Crowley.)
I am hoping films like Crowley and the upcoming Crossing Over mark a new phase in Ford's career. I have missed the man who did low-key movies like Witness (one of my all time favorites) where he really played down his heroic persona. I have long thought he should have taken a page out of Clint Eastwood's book, and accepted smaller and quieter roles more suitable to his age. I honestly could have seen Ford as Hilary Swank's boxing coach in Million Dollar Baby. I hope his researcher in Crowley is along those lines, and if it isn't, that he finds a part like that really soon.
1. Sounds pretty good. Maybe not original ("Lorenzo's Oil," anyone?) but still good.
Posted at 2:17PM on Jun 9th 2008 by Gina