Indiana Jones DNA: Like Father, Like Son

When it comes to franchise DNA, Indiana Jones seems to have a corner on the market. Consider the Jones bloodline: First it spawns Sean Connery, who then sires River Phoenix. River grows up to become Harrison Ford, who - according to every reliable source - eventually becomes a surrogate father-figure to an up-and-coming Shia LaBeouf.

And that last part is sort of unique, in a life-imitating-art kind of way.

Sure, both actors took different roads to fame and fortune. Harrison Ford got his big break while building cabinets over at the old Lucas estate, and subsequently landed two more blockbuster roles while sawing wood over at Francis Ford Coppola's joint.

Shia LaBeouf, on the other hand, took a much more deliberate approach. He started acting at an early age to escape the trappings of a broken home, and, by age 16, he was the darling of daytime TV, landing a lead role (and eventually an Emmy) as Louis on Disney's "Even Stevens." It was shortly after that, upon wrapping the movie Holes, that Steven Spielberg claimed Shia reminded him of a young Tom Hanks - a proclamation that is sort of like God saying you remind him of Moses.

So George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg each had a hand in helping Ford and LaBeouf achieve success. It all leads back to that Jones DNA again.

But what separates Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf from a million other actors is their innate ability to portray ordinary people faced with extraordinary circumstances. It's the trembling of Richard Kimble's hands as he contemplates freefalling from the Barkley Dam; it's the weight of LaBeouf's eyes as he contemplates the possibility that his milk-white suburbanite neighbor is actually a serial killer. It's the subtle pursing of lips and the unsettling crease in their brow that allows us, as moviegoers, to feel the gravity of their situation as if it were our own.

And perhaps what's most impressive is the understatedness of it all, how both actors have the innate ability to steal the show without stealing every scene. LaBeouf pulled it off as Dito in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and Ford created one of the most memorable characters of all time in American Graffiti with little more than a Stetson hat and a few brief snippets of dialogue.

Still, there are a lot of actors out there who have tremendous presence, so what makes Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf so amazingly bankable? Well, from a business standpoint, they're a safe and solid investment. There are no checkers marking their past; no sex, lies, and/or videotape for tabloids to latch onto. On the rare occasion that one of them has dealt with controversy (e.g., Ford's two divorces or LaBeouf's father entering rehab), they've handled the situation privately, careful to maintain their sense of integrity.

Both actors are incredibly grounded, which means there is no risk of controversy affecting box office receipts. They are both candid and sincere, seemingly unaware of their own celebrity. And it doesn't hurt that both Ford and LaBeouf have tremendous range, stepping seamlessly into the skin of any character they play, whether it be a high school kid caught up in an intergalactic battle between shapeshifting robots or a space cowboy with a cookie-shaped starship and a thing for wookies.

Put all the pieces together and what you end up with is a studio exec's wet dream: Hollywood talent without the Hollywood attitude.

So it seems only fitting that, after starring in one of the summer's biggest blockbusters, Shia LaBeouf would cap it off by taking on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with his boyhood idol as a guide. And equally fitting that Ford, now 65, might be willing to pass his whip to the next person in line.

Perhaps that's what makes the great ones so special: the ability to make everyone around them shine a little brighter. With twilight slowly peeking over Harrison Ford's shoulder, maybe he views himself as more of a player-coach than a leading man these days. And maybe he sees a little bit of himself in Shia LaBeouf: young, hungry and headstrong, with a face made for movies and iron-clad instincts to match.

And, yes, Shia's meteoric rise to fame lacks the blue-collar charm of a young carpenter who came to Hollywood to build sets and eventually ended up owning them. But LaBeouf's story is unique all the same, and, thus far, the set-up has been fantastic.

He's got all the right people in his corner, and, more importantly, he's chosen the right heroes. Perhaps this fourth Indiana Jones film will finally resolve some questions both onscreen and off for Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf. If nothing else, it is a moment both should cherish, because opportunities like this are rare, and, as we already know, in the end it all comes back to that Jones DNA.