No, Harrison Ford should not play Deckard in new "Blade Runner"

When Blade Runner was released in 1982, I became a little obsessed. I saw it dozens of times and effused to anyone within earshot what a forward-looking film it was. I was impressed not just by the sets, the lighting, the effects, the brilliant music from Vangelis, the direction, but by the still-overlooked script by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples.

I was pretty much alone at the time in my enthusiasm for Blade Runner. My friends thought my praise was misplaced; they hated the movie. Critics were no kinder, dismissing the film as merely a pretty futuristic gimmick. They especially hated the dialogue, laughing that it was merely window-dressing for the special effects.

There is one thing upon which I did agree with the harsh criticism. Harrison Ford's portrayal of the lead character, Rick Deckard, according to critics - and to me - was flaccid and unengaging. The only thing that I could never like about Blade Runner, as much as I tried, was Harrison Ford's acting. I thought he was dreadful, totally miscast, pulling the entire production down the notch necessary to become one of the best films of all time. He acted hesitantly, gave the impression he didn't have much faith in his role, and looked generally like he wanted to be anywhere but on the set on that particular day.

History has proven me right. Harrison Ford did not have confidence in the picture, didn't understand his character and was even unhappy with the final product - until critics came around and started putting it on their greatest films of all time lists.

Now that word has come that another Blade Runner movie is to be filmed, the only wet blanket to be thrown on the whole thing is that Harrison Ford is in talks to reprise his role as Deckard. No! I realize that Ford's role has become almost as iconic as the film itself. But he was wrong for the role then and he is wrong for it now.

After seeing Drive with Ryan Gosling, I'm thinking there is the perfect Deckard. Gosling has the chops, the intensity, the commitment to a role to bring out the nuance that drives a human (replicant?) like Deckard. In fact, Drive has much of the accelerated intensity and pulsating score that marked the hallmarks of Blade Runner. But at the core of Drive is the brilliance and nuance of an actor who loves and excels at his craft.

That's exactly what another Blade Runner needs. It will be almost impossible to regenerate the peculiar assets that came together so fortuitously in the original. That will be hard enough. However, without a committed, fiery and finely-shaded Deckard, it will struggle much like the original to finally find the respect it will hopefully deserve.

Of course, this opinion is sure to ruffle some feathers, especially those of Ford fans who came to Blade Runner through his other movies like the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. But Blade Runner was never a product. It is a work of art. It needs better than Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard this time.