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The Fugitive (1993)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
9/03, 5/18, 7/21
5/18:
Patterning itself after the famous TV show, The Fugitive does me a favor by condensing the plot into
a 130-minute film from 120 episodes with 51 minutes each which comes to 102 hours for you mathematically
challenged people.
Whew...that's a lot of time saved. Even Harrison Ford, who actually grew his own beard, never saw the TV show.
The film starts off awkwardly with many problems in logic. Dr. Kimble won't have been able to survive the
train/bus crash without broken bones and all. The opening sequence has also left me thinking that the murder
and the trial both happened in the same week.
Afterwards, it shapes into a rousing adventure when Harrison Ford gets in his Indiana Jones mode that I love him
for it. That's when the movie becomes better, and it's fun to watch, hence the '9' rating. There are many good
moments. Notwithstanding Julianne Moore, the acting is fantastic, and Andreas Katsulas will always be that
one-armed guy.
When I first saw The Fugitive in 1993, I didn't think of the picture in terms of acting accolades. Hence,
I was surprised when the announcement came during the Academy Awards that the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
went to Tommy Lee Jones. Don't get me wrong. I like Tommy Lee Jones and consider him a great actor. I don't
think he had ever given a bad performance; the point is that Oscars are never handed out for action-adventure
films despite the fact that there have been many great ones over the years. I wasn't expecting it at all for
Tommy Lee Jones who even admitted this much, "It's not like anyone is going to win any awards for this film."
After seeing The Fugitive again for the fifth time or so, I can see now why Tommy Lee won it; he's simply
masterful although I don't like his supporting cast, especially that black woman with the weird head thing.
Their arrogance is annoying as they try to come off as "cool." At one point, I didn't get why Samuel Gerard had
to shoot Dr. Kimble, who was basically unarmed, when he was escaping from the jail-courthouse building.
All in all, The Fugitive is among great action pictures of the 90's.
7/21:
There's a lot to like about The Fugitive: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, and the murder mystery.
Having finished number three at the box office in 1993, the editing is superb which earned an Academy Award
nomination for six guys. It's like watching Harrison Ford versus
The French Connection. Plenty of stuff are borrowed from
The Package with some Above the Law,
both directed by Andrew Davis.
Tommy Lee Jones is an absolute master of organization, telling people to get on it and do their jobs and refusing
to take no for an answer. That's why he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor although he was really in the
leading role. Believe it or not, it's not his best performance; that'll be
The Executioner's Song which is a must-see for all Tommy Lee
Jones fans.
All in all, The Fugitive is a thrilling picture that will continue to stand the test of time.