Harrison Ford Week: The Fugitive
Harrison Ford plays respected Chicago surgeon Richard Kimble, who is wrongfully convicted for the murder of his wife. Kimble manages to escape from the bus transporting him to jail when prisoners taking over causes it to crash. Kimble returns to Chicago in an attempt to clear his name and find out who really killed his wife. On his quest, Kimble is pursued by U.S. Marsall Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones, in a role that earned him a Best Supprting Actor Academy Award), who is determined to return him to justice.
I haven't ever seen the original TV show that this film was based on, so I can't say how faithful it was to the source material. Tommy Lee Jones wouldn't have been given Best Supporting Actor if the film was a load of crap, would he? The film was also nominated for several other Academy Award (including Best Picture), but never won, which was a pity. It really was an enjoyable film. The film wasn't particularly action-oriented. It was more of a thriller than dumb action movie. Harrison Ford films aren't really dumb action flicks. The action is more intelligent and the heroes he plays aren't the boring invincible types, they seem to get their butts kicked almost as much as all the butts they kick themselves.
Harrison Ford was great as usual, but the film really belongs to Tommy Lee Jones. He gets most of the best lines, some of which he improvised himself. There's a reason why Sam Gerard was given his own spin-off. Unfortunately, with two such strong actors in the lead roles, the villains of the piece are overshadowed and are rendered rather forgettable.
Three and a half pointy hats.
Next time: Raiders of the Lost Ark. I couldn't do a week of Harrison Ford films without reviewing the original Indiana Jones films, could I?
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