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The Fugitive | Movie Review

The Fugitive - 1993
Directed by : Andrew Davis

From now on whenever I will get a chance to talk or think about thrillers, The Fugitive will always be there in my mind, mingling right there with some of the brilliant thrillers ever made(or the ones I have ever seen); with genius Silence Of The Lambs(1991), Hitchcock's masterpiece North By Northwest(1959), and Polanski's bleak Chinatown(1974). Although it cant match the wit and charm of Hitchcock's North By Northwest, or The Silence Of The Lambs' dread and horror or never the bleakness of Chinatown. But to be honest, it really doesn't have to. It is its own thing. There are things in the film which the former also cant match. Its the perfect thriller in the truest sense. Thriller is hard to define, some musicals are thrillers, so are psychological dramas, and so are some of the science-fiction. There always is a difficulty in defining what a perfect thriller really is. But The Fugitive is perfect thriller by the truest sense, by the standard definition. Thriller is something that thrills; the work that holds the interest by high degree of intrigue, adventure or suspense. The Fugitive has it all in massive proportions.


The Fugitive made lot of attention at the time, nominated for around half dozen Oscars, won one by Tommy Lee Jones as Best Supporting Actor, but it doesn't get its due importance, as it should have. I didn't even know that the film existed. 

Richard Kimble(Harrison Ford) is a falsely accused of killing his own wife and is sentenced death. It is shown so quickly, and the rigidity of law system is so accurately portrait, every fact is against Kimble, but we know that he is innocent. It is quite clear that he is innocent, the film offers unmistakable clarity there. Kimble is a good man, kind man, we know this by subtle cues which film offers time to time. He is hell of a smart guy and quite lucky too. For he got escaped by an accident. But there are guys smart as he is, maybe not as much as he, because he is always one step further than the cops, but he is chased by the cunning, smart ass US Marshal Samuel Gerald(played perfectly by Tommy Lee Jones). Now Marshal Gerald is ruthless, cunning and toughest guy you will ever see. Most satisfying experience of this film is, watching Marshal at his work. He is doesnt quit, he doesn't compromise, his mind works like a computer and he can crack wicked jokes too. 

The mouse-and-cat game that follows is a gem to watch. We are shown every cue, every discovery which Marshal get. And how he act thereafter. The marshal doesn't care if the guy is innocent or not, he only want to get him. Thats his sole job. He is good at it but the victim is more smarter. While the Marshal is hunting the victim, the victim is hunting a victim too, the real victim, who has killed his wife brutally. And this all done so skillfully, with great use of Chicago city, with its high buildings, crowded roads, highway tunnels and maze like structure, not a second wasted. We are solving the puzzle with them. 

Everyone in have acted perfectly, Ford was great in his desperate, angry, disappointed, sad, frightened, sometimes satisfied looks all at the same time, but for me Jones is the beast. With his menacing eyes, lethal moves, showing the superior grit of the character unmistakably was all perfect. The acting was modest, grounded and authentic. Rare. Every other actor were great as well. For brevity, this includes all. The technical aspects were spot on, the music tense and chilly, the cinematography not vibrant but realistic and modest and skillful. There was certain authenticity to the film. If the movie was made today, there would have been lot of CGI. The train scene was particularly brilliant. Its real what you see there. The scene of dam of another piece of brilliant filmmaking. In a nutshell true, authentic filmmaking wins here.

Rating : ★★★★½


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