The sci-fi movie Harrison Ford didn’t understand (but starred in anyway)

Actor Harrison Ford has been quite picky about his roles over the years, carefully choosing roles that suited his cocky charm, but he hasn’t always made the perfect choice. While the actor has dozens of really great films under his belt, he also has a few stinkers, like historical submarine thriller “K-19: The Widowmaker” and the utopia-forming drama “The Mosquito Coast.” Ford has defended both quite thoroughly. However, there is one box office hit that he wasn’t so thrilled about, largely because he was admittedly never on the film’s wavelength.

The 2011 science fiction action western “Cowboys & Aliens” had all the ingredients for a major blockbuster box office success. “Cowboys & Aliens” is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and was directed by Jon Favreau, who was able to build on the success of the first two “Iron Man” films. Starring Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano, Walton Goggins, Keith Carradine and Clancy Brown, the film was a wild smorgasbord of fantastic acting talent. Unfortunately, it was a colossal financial flop, grossing $174.8 million at the worldwide box office, only about $11 million over its $163 million budget. While some critics (including Roger Ebert!) praised the film’s central performances, Ford and Craig simply couldn’t save the film from its complicated script or its startling tonal shifts, and in the end “Cowboys & Aliens” ended up on the cinema trash heap. In interviews about the film, Ford shared that he didn’t really understand it at all, and honestly? I can somehow understand that.

When Cowboys & Aliens was first announced, it was easy to be skeptical because the two genres seemed too different, but once production began and People were able to see Ford and Craig in period garb for the first timeit seemed like it was working. Favreau had shown that he could combine sci-fi action and comedy quite well with the Iron Man films, and the cast was pretty much put together perfectly. The biggest problem was the script, which was rewritten several times by numerous screenwriters, ultimately ending up with a screenplay credited to Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. (Kurtzman and Orci have often been referred to as a writing duo, working together on films such as “The Island” and the 2009 reboot of “Star Trek,” while Lindelof is best known as the creator of “Lost” and co-writer of “Star Trek.” “is known: Into Darkness” with Kurtzman, Orci and JJ Abrams.)

In an interview with Cinema mixFord explained that he was initially confused by the script and wanted to quit after reading the first 30 pages, but his agent urged him to continue:

“It was ambitious, I thought. I said, ‘Why don’t I talk to Jon?’ and then I met with Jon Favreau and was impressed by what he had to say. I met the writers and they made it clear to me that it was a work in progress. I was generous in giving the character a little more space. Then I saw an opportunity to play a different kind of character than I was used to, to enjoy the joys that come with having a character that no one likes you. It’s really an opportunity I tried to give the piece some structure. So I said, “I’m in.” This was supposed to be fun.’ And it was.”

Ford has very rarely played villains in his long careerand his role in Cowboys & Aliens was definitely in line with traditional Western villains, so it’s a good thing he had fun breaking bad guys. It’s just a shame that the audience didn’t really enjoy it.

While combining all these great actors with cowboys and aliens seemed like a potentially great idea, the end result was frustratingly muddled, and Ford probably should have ignored his agent’s insistence. There were just too many cooks in the kitchen, with the heavily adjusted script and influential producers taking big notes (like Steven Spielberg introduces the main antagonist) and what seems like a loose stance on the film’s overall vision, given Ford’s “very much a work in progress” comments. Instead, it could have been a very fun mix of genres that gets bogged down in the plot instead of giving the characters any development, which is a shame because Ford and Craig at least try to make it work. Dano is good as Ford’s character’s son, although it would have been interesting to see one the young Glen Powell in the roleas he also auditioned (while channeling his inner Ben Foster). Then again, that might be too much for a single film, regardless of whether it’s a major Hollywood blockbuster or not.

Luckily, that experience hasn’t stopped Ford from taking the risk of genre cinema, and he’ll be appearing and giving his all as President William “Thunderbolt” Ross in Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World special kind of movie star charisma for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ford is one of the greats, even if his films don’t live up to expectations, and it will be great to see what he does in the superhero space. At least I hope he has fun.