Harrison Ford values human element in ‘Blade Runner 2049,’ and Chicago

“Stay human, Chicago! Stay human,” said Harrison Ford, who spent his formative years in Park Ridge. During our interview in Los Angeles, he used Our Town as something of a template for a few messages he tried to convey as he discussing his return to playing the introspective Rick Deckard in “Blade Runner 2049” (opening Friday).

“I’ve heard and read so many things in the past few years that makes me think a lot of humanity is slipping away in large areas of Chicago. Not on the North Side or in the suburbs or downtown or on the Gold Coast, but things are obviously very grim in a number of neighborhoods.

“Yet, that’s true for many cities in America. I’m very concerned about what kids face today in areas of American cities where crime and violence is rampant. Chicago is merely the one getting all the bad press. That’s what I mean by an increasing devaluation of humanity and human values.”

His love for director Denis Villeneuve’s reinterpretation of Ridley Scott’s original “Blade Runner,” he said, is that “it’s a human story. It’s not a message film. … You become immersed in a story, and you’re following characters and quickly become engrossed.”