Director: Andrew Davis
Writers: Jeb Stuart, David Twohy, Roy Huggins
Photography: Michael Chapman
Music: James Newton Howard
Editors: Don Brochu, David Finfer, Dean Goodhill, Dov Hoenig, Richard Nord, Dennis Virkler
Cast: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Jeroen Krabbe, Andreas Katsulas, Julianne Moore, Jane Lynch, Lester Holt
When I was putting together my credits summary for this '90s movie remake of the '60s hit TV show I was struck by how many editors worked on it, six, when usually that's a solo job or at most a two-hand, with or without the director. But taking a second look at a movie I liked pretty well when it was new, it was easier to see how that might happen. The Fugitive is a big-production thriller with a barrage of pell-mell action that barely ever lets up, set in motion by a reasonably spectacular train wreck. It's a very busy picture with lots of physical activity. Mad magazine parody titles once again come in handy. Its 1964 treatment of the TV show went as "The Phewgitive." It's true that's not one of their more elegant goofs, but it does have a point—not the sense of "phew" that refers to a bad odor (bad odors being a staple of Mad) but rather to the strong sense of relief after a close call of some kind.
If you ever watched the TV show, which was not bad, you know basically that's how it went. Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford in the movie, David Janssen in the show) has been wrongly accused and convicted of murdering his wife. On the way to prison he escapes and then wanders around searching for the mysterious one-armed man he claims did the deed, which no one else believes. In the show, which ran for four seasons and an incredible 120 episodes, that was just the frame. Most of the episodes didn't have that much to do with any one-armed man but were more like noirish scenes from My Voyage to America, usually with tender moments of some kind and then some close call about being identified and almost captured before getting away again. Phew! The movie 30 years later wisely makes it all about the one-armed man even as the close calls come at the rate of handfuls per hour.
When I was putting together my credits summary for this '90s movie remake of the '60s hit TV show I was struck by how many editors worked on it, six, when usually that's a solo job or at most a two-hand, with or without the director. But taking a second look at a movie I liked pretty well when it was new, it was easier to see how that might happen. The Fugitive is a big-production thriller with a barrage of pell-mell action that barely ever lets up, set in motion by a reasonably spectacular train wreck. It's a very busy picture with lots of physical activity. Mad magazine parody titles once again come in handy. Its 1964 treatment of the TV show went as "The Phewgitive." It's true that's not one of their more elegant goofs, but it does have a point—not the sense of "phew" that refers to a bad odor (bad odors being a staple of Mad) but rather to the strong sense of relief after a close call of some kind.
If you ever watched the TV show, which was not bad, you know basically that's how it went. Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford in the movie, David Janssen in the show) has been wrongly accused and convicted of murdering his wife. On the way to prison he escapes and then wanders around searching for the mysterious one-armed man he claims did the deed, which no one else believes. In the show, which ran for four seasons and an incredible 120 episodes, that was just the frame. Most of the episodes didn't have that much to do with any one-armed man but were more like noirish scenes from My Voyage to America, usually with tender moments of some kind and then some close call about being identified and almost captured before getting away again. Phew! The movie 30 years later wisely makes it all about the one-armed man even as the close calls come at the rate of handfuls per hour.
I didn't like the movie as much this time, though the script was suitably decked out with a constant pounding of predicaments to the face. I think my coolness might have been more about an ever-worsening animus I have developed since before 1993 regarding Oscars and the Academy Awards ritual. I recognized The Fugitive immediately as Oscar bait. There's a bloated approach that pushes it over the two-hour line, with leisurely titles that don't even get to the director's credit until nearly 15 minutes into the picture. So you know it's a big picture. And there are the two buddy leads, Ford and Tommy Lee Jones as a dogged U.S. Marshall who always gets his man. They are big movie stars with swaggering wisecracking macho charisma and a certain manufactured chemistry—likable, roguish heroes who by unfortunate coincidence have ended up on opposite sides of the issue at hand.
And sure enough, there they all were the following March in their tuxes with at least as many Oscar nominations as Dr. Kimble had predicaments, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (for Jones, the picture's only win), Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Score, and even Best Editor for that collective six-pack. The Best Picture nominees that year are a certain study in intellectual pretension: The Fugitive (the super-competent thriller), In the Name of the Father (Irish troubles and the "relevant" bid), The Piano (the foreign selection, happily in English), The Remains of the Day (the upholstered Merchant-Ivory with PBS strength), and the winner, Schindler's List (aka Spielberg's Agony). A brief reminder of other movies from that year that are at least their equal: Carlito's Way, Fearless, Groundhog Day, Jurassic Park, Menace II Society, Short Cuts, and True Romance. At least two of them, Groundhog Day and Menace II Society, are far better than anything in the nominees list, and True Romance is a much better thriller than The Fugitive.
But enough with the carping and second guessing already. Things I like about The Fugitive: The editing, yes, which can be highly effective and is seamless for the work of six. The steady onslaught rhythms of the script's unfolding story. Chicago really works well as setting. Joe Pantoliano as Cosmo Renfro, a Jones sidekick—Pantoliano and his unmistakable twang (The Matrix, Memento, Risky Business) are proof that the old-fashioned Hollywood character actor lives on. Tommy Lee Jones—how can anyone not like Tommy Lee Jones? He's like your best dad or favorite uncle and his dark side is always convincing. Harrison Ford was really showing his utility as action star at this point in his career. He always looks good running around ragged and desperate somehow. He puts over the saintliness too, though that is where he strains most. "I didn't kill my wife!" he cries in one tense standoff with the U.S. Marshall. "I don't care!" Jones barks back at him and we are tempted to agree. In another scene, Dr. Kimble takes time out from the desperation to save a kid's life in the hospital.
I'm embarrassed to say I approached The Fugitive thinking it was Air Force One, another Ford vehicle but from four years later, 1997, which I also recall enjoying a lot in its time. I'm not entirely convinced it would hold up to a second viewing either, however. IMDb voters may not agree with me on this one, or at least not with my vague memories. They collectively rank The Fugitive at a robust and respectable 7.8 whereas they can only go 6.5 on Air Force One. After the mild disappointment of The Fugitive, I'm not sure I'm ready for that one again yet any time soon.
And sure enough, there they all were the following March in their tuxes with at least as many Oscar nominations as Dr. Kimble had predicaments, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (for Jones, the picture's only win), Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Score, and even Best Editor for that collective six-pack. The Best Picture nominees that year are a certain study in intellectual pretension: The Fugitive (the super-competent thriller), In the Name of the Father (Irish troubles and the "relevant" bid), The Piano (the foreign selection, happily in English), The Remains of the Day (the upholstered Merchant-Ivory with PBS strength), and the winner, Schindler's List (aka Spielberg's Agony). A brief reminder of other movies from that year that are at least their equal: Carlito's Way, Fearless, Groundhog Day, Jurassic Park, Menace II Society, Short Cuts, and True Romance. At least two of them, Groundhog Day and Menace II Society, are far better than anything in the nominees list, and True Romance is a much better thriller than The Fugitive.
But enough with the carping and second guessing already. Things I like about The Fugitive: The editing, yes, which can be highly effective and is seamless for the work of six. The steady onslaught rhythms of the script's unfolding story. Chicago really works well as setting. Joe Pantoliano as Cosmo Renfro, a Jones sidekick—Pantoliano and his unmistakable twang (The Matrix, Memento, Risky Business) are proof that the old-fashioned Hollywood character actor lives on. Tommy Lee Jones—how can anyone not like Tommy Lee Jones? He's like your best dad or favorite uncle and his dark side is always convincing. Harrison Ford was really showing his utility as action star at this point in his career. He always looks good running around ragged and desperate somehow. He puts over the saintliness too, though that is where he strains most. "I didn't kill my wife!" he cries in one tense standoff with the U.S. Marshall. "I don't care!" Jones barks back at him and we are tempted to agree. In another scene, Dr. Kimble takes time out from the desperation to save a kid's life in the hospital.
I'm embarrassed to say I approached The Fugitive thinking it was Air Force One, another Ford vehicle but from four years later, 1997, which I also recall enjoying a lot in its time. I'm not entirely convinced it would hold up to a second viewing either, however. IMDb voters may not agree with me on this one, or at least not with my vague memories. They collectively rank The Fugitive at a robust and respectable 7.8 whereas they can only go 6.5 on Air Force One. After the mild disappointment of The Fugitive, I'm not sure I'm ready for that one again yet any time soon.
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