BACK FOR ONE LAST ADVENTURE

The final installment of the Indiana Jones franchise may be lackluster, but Harrison Ford imbues it with heart

- STEPHANIE ZACHAREK

HARRISON FORD IS KNOWN TO FLUMMOX journalists by being less than forthcoming in interviews; in public appearances, he tends to radiate an "I don't really want to be here" vibe. Which is why it meant something to see him take the stage just ahead of the Cannes premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on May 18, with tiny glimmers of almost-tears in his eyes. Cannes head Thierry Frémaux had introduced Ford by showing a highlight reel of his long, prismatic career, from American Graffiti to The Mosquito Coast to Blade Runner and beyond. It must be strange to sit there in a tux and watch your various incarnations across decades flash past you on a screen-it's probably true that when you're a movie star, others are more attuned to the natural changes in your face than you are. No wonder Ford, now 80, seemed moved by the tribute. "You know, I love you too," he said to the audience after the applause had waned. "You give my life purpose and meaning, and I'm grateful for that."

Ford is, pretty much, the best thing about James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the franchise. The first, Steven Spielberg's 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark, was inspired by adventure serials of the 1930s and '40s-the idea had been conceived by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, with Spielberg joining later. In 1981, looking back at movies from 50 years earlier felt like gazing through the wrong end of the telescope; that first movie's lo-fi hi fun touches-its fixation on ancient golden gewgaws, slithery snakes, and cartoon bad guys-seemed so mistily far away from what the movies had become by that time. Now, in 2023, when filmmakers have tons of new technology at their disposal, it's easier than ever to make stuff look old-timey. (This new installment is set mostly in 1969, around the time of the lunar landing.)