I liked Henry better before he was shot

I found pre-accident Henry to be a very interesting character as well. Ford very adeptly walked the line between a jerk and a sympathetic character. I could find a little of myself in all the conflicts he had, the ugly table, it , his careless daughter, and his professionalism. At the same time he carefully accented his character's vices or downfalls in the realms of parenting, snobbery, and immorality. I cannot however say that I liked this portrayal better, however, Ford was later able to weave a very touching if melodramatic new identity after the tragedy. Neither performance was pitch perfect nor award worthy, but admirable all the same. I really feel that the script, a sophmore screenwriting effort by J.J. Abrams really let the cast down, approaching a potentially promising theme with derivative and recycled material much the same as he has (IMO) with "Alias" and "Lost." There are flashes of originality and plenty of emotion, but overall I came away unfulfilled.

Yes, it is always interesting to me that the original character in these films is better than the character he or she ends up being. Why not try it the other way for once?