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“The Fugitive,” released in 1993 and starring Harrison Ford, surprisingly includes a better actor: Tommy Lee Jones. While Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a framed criminal on the loose, Jones plays Sam Gerald, the Deputy Marshal chasing him down. With no doubt, Kimble is the protagonist and focus of the movie and yet, when Gerald is hot on his trail the film is suddenly perfect until he’s gone.
The plot, based on the 1960s series of the same name, follows Kimble being framed for murdering his wife. After escaping from execution, he evades the police in search of the true killer. To make this a larger challenge Gerald appears at inconvenient times to create ten minute chase scenes.
It’s unexpected to find a supporting character superior to the protagonist, especially when that protagonist is Harrison Ford, but Jones as Gerald takes the cake. Gerald’s sole purpose in the film is to not catch Kimble over and over again and yet, he easily makes the film ten times better. Every sarcastic quip and perfect one-liner makes Ford’s role look like the real support character.
This has nothing to do with a poor performance from Ford, in fact he played his character too perfectly. Kimble is a depressed man who not only lost his wife but is also accused of killing her. This naturally makes him very quiet and deep in thought, which makes him harder to like as the protagonist, although with all things considered, Kimble is still a great protagonist.
It was refreshing to see a movie where the “smart people” were actually smart. Kimble would devise a good way to find the killer and blend in, while Gerald would accidentally run into him unexpectedly. Gerald actually is supposed to be really clever the whole time, and he did seem to be, but it was easy to see Kimble is smarter.
It often takes the brain power of both Gerald and his team to find Kimble. Even then it always took luck that they found him at all. It often distanced the watcher from the film that the Deputy Marshal couldn’t find one guy over the course of a year.
Making the story span over at least a year was a nice slice of realism compared to the often fast paced story of similar films. The time frame perfectly fits with the idea of a careful criminal evading the police. This made it far easier to imagine the events happening, which often isn’t the case in films like “John Wick,” or “007,” where the story spans an unrealistic few days.
With all things considered, “The Fugitive” is a great movie, while it sometimes fails to accurately portray a smart Deputy Marshal, it at least makes him a comedic one. The “fugitive” in question makes revenge look like a well oiled machine, and that only makes the story more fun. I give the film a solid 3.9📼 out of 5.0📼, and a strong suggestion to watch one of the best Ford films of all time.
