Movie Review: The Fugitive (1993)

Synopsis: Chicago vascular surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble is convicted for the brutal murder of his wife, Helen, despite insisting she was killed by a man with a prosthetic arm. While being transported to prison, he is caught up in a prisoner escape attempt and is soon being chased by U. S. Marshals under the command of Samuel Gerard while he attempts to find evidence that proves his innocence.

Who's in it? The movie stars Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Andreas Katsulas and Julianne Moore.

Review: Neither of us had the energy to go out yesterday evening so my wife and I wound up watching a bit of a Tommy Lee Jones marathon. This included The Fugitive, which neither of us had seen in a long while. After re-watching it, I thought the movie withstood the test of time.

The movie, which is based on the television series loosely based on a true story, does a fantastic job getting right to the action. A lot of movies like this will bog things down with a ton of character introduction and exposition. This film introduces the action right away, filling in the pertinent details via flashbacks.

What really makes this movie though is the cast. Ford's Kimble and Jones' Gerard make a great pairing in what I would describe as a frenemies-style relationship. I like how Gerard, in particular, never loses focus on what his job is, even as he begins to believe Kimble is innocent. This, in turn, keeps the movie interesting because there are multiple times when Kimble seemed to be on the verge of being taken into custody before proving he didn't murder his wife. 

I also liked how the movie managed to have a good mystery about who the real killer was. Not necessarily the person who killed Helen (Ward) but the person who was pulling their strings and why. This was intriguing because when it came right down to it, the only one who seemed to have motive for killing Helen was Kimble.

My only real complaint about this movie is the evidence leading to the real killer was a little too easy to find. Basically, it's one of those movies that only happens because the police clearly didn't do their job. That alone seems like it could have been a movie of its own.

Final Opinion: This is a solid action movie with a great cast and good mystery. It's worth taking the time to watch or re-watch if given the chance.

My Grade: A

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