Fugitive
Harrison Ford is one of those guys who would be regarded as a cinema acting icon if it were just simply for two key roles that he has ever played (Han Solo and Indiana Jones) but he has also distinguished himself by starring in many other major films that became enormous hits as well. This 1992 release is probably the most notable of that particular bunch, scoring an Oscar Nomination for Best Picture which is very impressive considering that it is by definition an action movie and is ALSO a remake of an old television series which is a type of film that is not known for doing all that well with both audiences and critics. It also did huge business at the box office, not surprising given Fordās track record and popularity with audiences, but the major development coming out of this filmās production and release was in seeing how Ford (in giving a very solid lead performance) was actually overshadowed by one Tommy Lee Jones, long considered a respected yet underrated actor who not only shot into the stratosphere as a mega movie star off of his role here, but he also nabbed the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (again, for an action movie) in a year where he was always considered a virtual lock all the way up to the awards ceremony itself. The contrast between the two actors in their roles was startling. Ford was playing the wrongfully accused hero trying to prove his innocence and evade the authorities while Jones was playing the aggressive main law enforcement pursuer, someone who while not quite a villain could very well have taken on the role of being a major antagonist or at least a thorn in Fordās side, but in Jonesā more than capable hands he practically becomes the hero of the film himself by playing his role as tough, taciturn and most importantly, COOL, following the bread crumbs left by Ford in order to put the heat on the real bad guys of the movie. Much of the fuel for both performances was stoked by a surprising amount of reliance on their part for improv and adlibbing whole entire scenes, with Jones having even been said to have had a major input on the creative side of things as well. The original TV show of course was iconic for its time in the 1960s, following the exploits of Dr. Richard Kimble as played by David Jansson as he discovers his wife being murdered at the hands of a mysterious One Armed Man and despite his pleas of innocence and of what he saw, winds up being convicted of her murder before escaping custody and starting out on a four year trek (over four seasons) trying to prove his innocence before the series finale that would wrap things up managed to become the highest rated, most watched television event in history up to that point, the perfect example of how to use a TV show to slowly build a continuing story up to a conclusion that nobody in the civilized world would ever want to miss. Here in the āremakeā, Ford is cast as Kimble and Jones as Gerald (the other major character from the show) as director Andrew Davis begins the film by disorienting us a bit much like Kimble must have been over the death of his wife, utilizing quick cut flashbacks showing the murder and subsequent struggle with the assailant along with the cops (who seem to be portrayed as either idiots or as guys who have a bone to pick with Kimble based on his wealth and success) questioning Kimble after the fact with the interrogation rapidly leaning towards giving Kimble a hard time over his probable guilt instead of going out and looking for any amputees who might be capable of committing a murder, opting instead for the quick, easy (lazy) resolution to the case by arresting Kimble and having him tried and convicted based off some very flimsy evidence. This leads to the spectacular opening stunt / action sequence as an escape attempt by the other convicts on his prison transport bus leads to the bus overturning and worse, landing on some railroad tracks with an oncoming train bearing down on them. Kimble manages to rescue an injured guard before barely escaping himself, going on the run over the rough terrain while Jonesā Deputy U.S. Marshall Sam Gerald arrives at the scene and not only takes over the investigation but the entire movie itself, bringing with him his own team of assistants (including the legendary Joe Pantoliano) whom at one point he refers to as being his ākidsā. Indeed, Jones comes off like the ultimate Big Daddy of the law enforcement community, quickly putting the hick local sheriff in his place and knowing immediately what to do in order to ensure the quickest capture possible, thwarted only by Kimbleās resourcefulness and very high level of intelligence (itās referenced a couple of times of just how immaculately smart he is). The film actually keeps up a nice pace for much of its running time, partly because Jones is an expert at keeping things lively and entertaining whenever he is onscreen while Ford (sporting a thick beard for the first 40 minutes before shaving it off to look his usual self) does just fine giving the (obviously) quieter, more subdued performance as he tries to blend in all while still conducting his own investigation as to who killed his wife and why. This is where the filmās story takes a major deviation from that of the TV show, as while there The One Armed Man was basically a lone drifter who had killed Kimbleās wife during a random break in attempt, here there turns out to have been a whole conspiracy afoot to bring down Kimble with The One Armed Man having been a paid assassin sent in to eliminate Kimble (which he failed to do) and his wife (which he did) and whose day job is that of being a āsecurity expertā along with being an ex cop. And the reason why? Kimble was preparing to be the whistle blower on a newly developed medication that it turned out was having severe side effects on the patients taking it and frankly, given the current climate of non stop TV ads for various āmiracle cureā drugs where the listing of the potentially damaging side effects seems to take up two thirds of the ad, having this explained to us as being the cause for Kimbleās woes feels just a bit underwhelming. But at least this allows us to have the feeling that Kimble and Gerard are somehow āworking togetherā to solve the case by having Kimble (who knows that Gerard will chase him to the ends of the earth) leave deliberate clues and traces that he knows that Gerald will be duty bound to follow up on and in the process uncover the conspiracy that led to the home invasion and death of his wife (although admittedly the TV show milked the same formula by not having any actual conspiracies but rather by simply having Gerald working from his own instincts of always having to figure out what Kimbleās motives were based on his actions which the movie also touches on). Along the way, we find out that Kimble also has several allies going back to his days of being a respectable doctor who willingly help him at their own personal risk plus in a nod to the TV showās weekly tradition of having Kimble always helping strangers in need we get a touching bit where while masquerading as a janitor at his old hospital where heās gathering information he uses his medical knowledge to save the life of a dying boy (something that really gets Geraldās antennae flying) and thus put himself at severe risk of getting caught (again). The ending sees the real culprit unmasked which leads to a ridiculously brutal, knock down, drag out fight (between two doctors haha) that comes off as being so over the top with watching two civilized men taking enough punishment to kill an entire Army platoon that it totally flies off the deep end when perhaps a more understated climax would have worked better (although the final denouement at the end makes for a nice role reversal from the legendary conclusion of the TV showās finale). But one supposes that it couldnāt be helped given some of the stunts and chase sequences that we had witnessed earlier. Nonetheless, this movie remains synonymous with being the ultimate overachiever of its kind, a high quality, high octane action movie that transcended its expectations and actually managed to find itself steeped in Oscar glory, complete with a winning golden statue for the actor who easily managed to pull off the best performance while Harrison Ford added yet another notch to his belt as being the biggest box office star who has ever lived and proving himself as a legend who can never be replaced or replicatedā¦
8/10