Classic Movie Review: 'The Fugitive'

The Fugitive (1993)

Directed by Andrew Davis

Written by Jeb Stuart, David Twohy

Starring Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Julianne Moore, Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano

Release Date August 6th, 2023

Published August 7th, 2023

The story behind the movie The Fugitive is much crazier than I would have ever expected. The movie is so tight and so uniquely performed, I assumed that it must have been a terrifically assembled piece of work behind the scenes. Then, I read an incredible thread on Twitter from a user named @ATRightMovies. This person lays out a behind the scenes story that, on the surface, you would assume led to the creation of a complete disaster of a movie. Script problems, a star who was halfheartedly interested in making the movie, and assumptions on the set that everyone was making a bad movie, somehow led to the creation of a film that was nominated for 7 Oscars, with one Oscar win.

The Fugitive is based on a popular 1960s television series starring David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, a man wrongly accused of murdering his wife. Harrison Ford takes on the role of Dr. Kimble in the movie which finds him returning to his well appointed home to find a one armed man had assaulted and murdered his wife (Sela Ward). Kimble fought the one armed man but he managed to escape. When Police arrived, they found Dr. Kimble covered in his wife's blood, he'd tried to perform CPR and ended up clutching her dead body in his anguish over her death.

The blood and Kimble's story about a one armed man are too much for the Chicago Police Investigators to buy. They arrest Kimble and charge him with murder. Found guilty, Richard is facing life in prison when fate intervenes. While being transported to a Federal Prison, other inmates on the transport initiate a plan for escape. They attack and stab a guard, the driver of the bus is shot and killed, and the bus crashes on train tracks. In a spectacular sequence, a train is headed toward the bus on the tracks. Kimble picks up the injured officer and saves his life. Then, in a moment that has been shared among the best action sequences of the past 30 years, Kimble leaps from the broken bus seconds before the train strikes it, leading to a train derailment.

Richard Kimble takes this moment to escape and begin a hunt for the one-armed man who killed his wife. What comes next is the introduction of Lt. Gerrard, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Jones enters the movie like a star and takes over immediately. Radiating authority and endless charisma, Jones' Gerrard is an incredible creation. Jones is clearly having a great time and if it appears like his Gerrard is coming off the cuff, in an almost improvised fashion, it's because it was mostly improvised.

The script for The Fugitive was being written throughout the production and, embracing the chaos, director Andrew Davis encouraged his actors to invent a good deal of their dialogue. That's how you get the genuinely charming dynamic between Gerrard and his team, they knew what they needed from the scene and they riffed their way to what the scene needed to be. And somehow, the final product feels organic, like a group of people who've worked together for years and have a genuine rapport. The lack of a finished script actually helped the movie.

That same genuine quality comes in an early scene where Dr. Kimble is being questioned by Police about his wife's murder. According to Davis, in order to make the interrogation feel real, Harrison Ford was not told what questions would be asked by the detectives. This allowed him to react as a man in Kimble's situation would, confused, anguished, lost, and eventually defiant as it becomes clear that detectives see him as their top suspect, despite his story about the one-armed man. It's a terrific scene and Harrison Ford is exceptionally resourceful in allowing the scene to build momentum as his wheels turn searching for the next improvised answer.

What could have doomed The Fugitive actually energizes the plot and gives the film a charge of suspense. The actors don't know what is happening next just as their characters don't know what is happening next and it makes the cat and mouse section of The Fugitive, extending from the famous 'I didn't kill my wife, I don't care' sequence between Ford and Jones, to the start of the final act, feel like a genuine game of cat and mouse with each side having to think on their feet and react to this situation as if they were really in the moment.

This feeling is captured brilliantly in a sequence where Jones and his team have tracked Kimble to a Chicago hospital. He's leaving just as Gerrard and his team arrive. By chance, they see each other and a chase begin that leads to the actual, real life, as it happened, St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago. Ford leads Jones to the parade, disguises himself with a hat he happened to find in the trash and narrowly avoids Jones' Gerrard amid a crowd of confused revelers. It's a scene that should not work and I imagine most of the people involved were aware of the cameras and the movie stars, but, again, the lack of a definitive script and Ford and Jones having to act on instinct, give the scene a charge of excitement.

The Fugitive is a minor miracle. It's a movie that those who were making it thought was a complete disaster and that instead became one of the best action movies of the past 30 years. Harrison Ford delivers one of his best performances in The Fugitive. Quick witted, nervy, and intelligent, Ford effortlessly gives life to Dr. Richard Kimble beyond the dictates of an action movie. Tommy Lee Jones also delivers the best work of his career. Always an instinctual performer, Jones thrives in being freed to follow his gut and let his natural charm become part of the Gerrard character. It's no wonder he won an Academy Award for this performance, his acting is superb.

The Fugitive is the latest movie to be featured on my new Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast Spinoff, Everyone's a Critic 1993. On the show, myself, and my co-hosts, Gen-Z'er M.J, and Gen-X'er Amy, watch movies from 1993 in release order and talk about how movies and culture have changed in just the past three decades. It's a fun conversation and we've had an incredible time watching the array of movies released in 1993 compared to what we know of these movies today. You can listen to the Everyone's a Critic 1993 podcast on the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast feed, wherever you listen to podcasts.