The Fugitive

 

The Fugitive, sixty years after it first debuted, has strong name recognition which is commendable for a property that is not based on a comic book or classic novel.  I was born in 1972 so my first point of reference was the 1993 film.  My parents might think first of the 1960 series created by Roy Huggins.  If the attempt to revive the TV series either in 2000 or in 2020 had caught on with the general public, younger generations might go first to one of those versions.  

When something is successful it breeds a lot of imitators.  The format of the 1960s show was similar to the movie Shane.  A stranger comes into a small town, solves the problems of the people he encounters, and then moves on, usually because he either has to run from the police who have discovered his presence, or because he might be closer to solving his own major problem.  The Incredible Hulk and the A-Team followed a similar template. In the case of  The Fugitive the protagonist is Dr. Richard Kimble, a pediatrician who is wrongly accused of murdering his wife Helen, and is pursuing the one-armed man he saw escaping his home the night his wife died.  Kimble is an ex-Marine and a veteran of the Korean War so he can handle himself in a fight but the show and actor David Janssen portray Kimble with incredible compassion and driven first by his humane instincts and desire to care for others. Kimble is sad and quiet but resilient and a problem solver whose kind nature wins over people who take sympathy on him.  A lot of Hitchcock films also involve wrongly accused men trying to clear their names and stop a crisis but they usually focus on the character trying to solve the problem and rarely examine the nature of the protagonist in as much depth as we see here.  David Banner in The Incredible Hulk is shown as a similar type personality but the fact that he is also a giant green man with super strength who we want to see beat up the bad guys dilutes some of the drama.  In the A-Team there are several characters bearing the fugitive burden together and they use their military training to help people.  They also seem to enjoy their renegade status and baiting the military police chasing them.

When the 1993 film was released I was so intrigued by the character that I watched several episodes of the original series.  The first three seasons (of four total) were in black and white which gives the series a noir feel.  Apart from Janssen I really liked Barry Morse as Lieutenant Gerard.  Gerard is always seen in a suit, poised and intelligent and becomes quietly obsessed with catching Kimble.  Even when on vacation with his wife in one episode and with his son in another without hesitation he leaves them when he gets a lead on Kimble (which of course puts Kimble in direct contact with them).  Gerard is based on Inspector Javert in Les Miserables who becomes similarly obsessed with catching Jean Valljean, a character who is of an incredibly minor offense.  Unlike Valljean Kimble is innocent but given the nature of the accusation Gerard's initial desire to catch Kimble is understandable.  However, in the ten or so episodes I watched, including the finale, based on Kimble's many good deeds throughout the series, I felt Gerard slowly came to believe that Kimble might be innocent and is in fact more interested in resolution of the entire case than just catching his man.  Certainly Gerard's actions in the finale support this.

Spoilers below:

Surprisingly for a film with such a strong yet straightforward premise it was in development for many years.  Some of the early scripts threw odd wrinkles into the plot such as Gerard being revealed as the true villain because his wife had died on Kimble's operating table.  Fortunately the final product stays true to the characters and respects the audience enough to know that Gerard is much more interesting if he is on the right side of the law.  We might not always root for Gerard but we want to see him do his job well.

The Fugitive came out at the beginning of a period in which TVs shows were turned into movies and a large number followed in subsequent years.  Director Andrew Davis was hired only hired about ten months before the release date.  Harrison Ford, who had been cast as Kimble (now a vascular surgeon), had a narrow window of availability between production on his two Jack Ryan films.  Davis and the writers Jeb Stuart and David Twohy takes the best elements of the series, concocted many of them on the fly, and gives them a new twist to make it work for a feature film.

The casting of the two leads gives the film is as successful as the show and gives the film its dramatic strength.  Ford, who also played a doctor named Richard who more literally lost his wife in the film Frantic, does some of his best ever work in this film.  The interrogation scene expertly establishes the dilemma.  Ford looks so different than how we are used to seeing him, with a beard which he is tugging on nervously and his voice is uncertain as he goes through the events that it is easy to forget it's him and just see this destroyed man he is playing.  Kimble is in shock, processing the horrifying life-changing events of the last hour or two, first annoyed at some of the unsympathetic cops' questions, then switches from disbelief to outrage as Kimble realizes that HE is actually the suspect.  I believe this scene would probably have gotten Ford awards nominations had it come later in the film.  Ford uses his his signature "Finger of Doom" in this scene (where he glares at someone and points hard at them which he has done in several films, such as The Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) very powerfully as he goes from anger to despair in the same shot.  I read somewhere that Ford performed the scene as an acting exercise.  He had the information on the character but came up with the responses himself which may explain the rawness of the scene.  Ford's emotion plays beautifully against the monotone passive aggressive nature of the cops (played by Ron Dean and Joseph Kosala who both come across as authentic Chicago cops) who are probably under pressure to close this high profile case quickly and feel no need to look further than the room they are in.  

Kimble is by himself for much of the film who in normal life is clearly liked and respected but is perhaps a little bit of a loner.  This quality allows him to handle and even thrive in the challenging circumstances the film puts him in.  Ford has relatively little dialogue (his only speech is when he confronts Nichols at the conference and in character he looks uncomfortable speaking in front the crowd) and has to communicate his confused thoughts with his eyes and nervous gestures.  Kimble is frightened for a lot of the film as he is in the series, yet he is not a coward and is always able to make difficult decisions under pressure, much as a successful surgeon would.  Throughout the story Kimble just wants justice for his wife as he makes clear in two of his brief encounters with Gerard.  In the moment in which Kimble calls Gerard Ford seems deliberately a little nerdy when he says "I just found a big piece." and smartly from this moment actively works to bring Gerard in to help prove that there are larger forces at play.

Tommy Lee Jones, who elevated the Andrew Davis' previous film Under Siege the previous year as a colorful villain, plays Sam Gerard who in this version is a U.S. Marshal, which allows Gerard to pursue Kimble in different districts.  Gerard's name is changed form Phillip to Sam and his personality is much more energetic and extroverted than Barry's Morse's Gerard.  One of the master strokes is Gerard is surrounded by a team of people all junior to him which gives the film some comedic moments as he shouts orders to them in colorful ways.  The team's banter also covers a lot of the exposition in the film. Tommy Lee Jones signature as an actor is his rapid and sometimes oddball line deliveries in which he sometimes punctuates the word you do not expect, mixed with a finicky personality.  In Jones' first big speech, in which he establishes how thorough he is, he finishes by saying "Your fugitive's name is Doctor Richard Kimble, but sarcastically punctuating the delivery of the word "Doctor".  Another quieter moment later in the film in which Gerard takes the stairs in city hall which leads to him discovering Kimble, Jones gets away with a line like "Hinky, that has no meaning. I don't want you guys using words around me that have no meaning.  I'm taking the stairs and walking".  It's a ridiculous line but as an audience we buy it because we have seen that Gerard is impatient and hearing the guys speak like this gets on his nerves.  Also as played by Jones, Gerard is so restless he probably would prefer to take the stairs than be forced to stand still in an elevator.

Jones also brings dramatic weight to the film such as when Gerard shoots the escaped convict that is holding Newman hostage.  Right after he shoots Gerard has a brief moment when seems to gather himself.  In this scene, and the one right afterwards we see Gerard is very tough but also was trying to protect Newman which makes it much more tragic when Newman is killed in the next film.  Also Jones silently communicates his thoughts as he starts to suspect Kimble might be innocent and even wants to protect Kimble in the climax from the Chicago police.  When Gerard asks ("Did he shoot a cop?") it shows his disbelief that Kimble would have done that as it is inconsistent with his actions. 

Joe Pantoliano plays Cosmo, Gerard's Deputy Marshal and one of the elements that grounds the film.  For example in the scene in which he and Gerard drop into the drain Cosmo makes a remark about his new shoes, which is completely relatable but is the kind of detail that usually gets ignored in a film like this to not lose the suspense.  These more human more moments make the implausible ones like when Kimble jumps off the dam and survives easier to take.  He also is closer in age and personality to Gerard so Gerard treats him more like an equal where he fathers the other team members more.  Pantoliano and Jones both step on each others' line to great effect throughout the story.

One more obvious piece of casting is Jeroen Krabbe as Dr. Nichols, who turns out to be the villain.  Krabbe at the time played a lot of nasty white collar men who pretend to be good while turning out to be nefarious.  Krabbe replaced Richard Jordan who sadly got terminally ill after production began.  With little preparation Krabbe manages to make the Nichols both a little compassionate (such as when he helps Kimble by giving him some money) while gradually revealing him to be more duplicitous but his casting immediately raised my suspicions much as when I see Guy Pearce in a film I now I usually know not to trust him.  

The third act was heavily rewritten in production and as such some of the big revelations are slightly unclear as presented in the film but as I understand it Nichols was going to market a new pharmaceutical drug but Kimble realized it was causing liver damage (without knowing it was Nichols').  To cover it up Nicholas asked Kimble to borrow his car which gave Nichols the keys to Kimble's house and to allow Sykes (the one armed man of the story) into Kimble's house to kill Kimble.  Kimble was called into emergency surgery so Sykes only found Helen, Kimble's wife when he entered the Kimble home.  Helen struggled with Sykes, Kimble came home and fought with Sykes but Sykes got away after Kimble knocked him down the stairs (damaging his prosthetic arm) and Kimble didn't pursue in order to attend to Helen, who soon died of her injuries.  Kimble was not framed for Helen's murder but was accused and convicted, to Nichols' convenience.

Sela Ward does not have much to do but seems very warm as Helen Kimble and they have a happy marriage, unlike the more tumultuous one in the show (which may explain Kimble's many romances throughout the series).  Julianne Moore briefly appears as an overworked doctor in Cook County Hospital who asks Kimble for help with an injured kid.  The moment in which Kimble recognizes something is off with the diagnosis and kindly talks to the boy while sending him to the correct floor is a beautiful touch that the TV show always had more time for.  In the audience we are reminded that Kimble is a doctor at heart, and this compliments an earlier moment when he makes sure the paramedics taking in the injured guard know exactly how he is hurt.  It also is the first moment in which Gerard and Cosmo starts to suspect Kimble's innocence.  Originally Moore was going to turn into a romantic interest for Kimble which was wisely dropped, even though the unfortunate consequence of that is Moore is in less of the film.  

Andreas Katsulas plays the one-armed man who here has been updated to having a prosthetic arm.  Katsulas has a pretty small role as he is just following Nichols' orders but the film gives him a backstory and Katsulas supplies some personality as he enters his apartment after Kimble breaks in.  The film never explains how his alibis on the night of the murder were faked.  Katsulas is big and strong and he and Kimble have a satisfying showdown on the L train.  I liked that Katsulas is around 
Kimble and Gerard's age (45-50) as he seems more believable than a young stereotypical movie assassin. 

I feel a large part of the success of the film is that it feels authentic.  I visited Chicago for the first time in February 1993 (just as this film was entering production) and it was just as it appears in the film, full of character but very cold and gray.  Some additional touches are Kimble sleeping under a bed of leaves because of course he would be exhausted and would also want to stay out of sight.  

People are intelligent in the film.  Nichols even identifies it and it leads to a comedic response from Gerard and Cosmo.  Kimble cleverly works his way through Cook County Hospital to identify the man who he knows had his prosthetic arm damaged in the struggle and knows to stay away from his rented room after the son of his landlord is arrested.  Kimble figures out how to escape the tunnel when he is surrounded and Gerard quickly deduces where Kimble went.  Gerard can sense that Kimble has the drop on him after he falls and later intuitively believes that Kimble survived the fall.  

Although the law initially fails to protect Kimble, society does, which was a theme in the show.  A lady picks up Kimble when he looks cold walking at night.  Several of his doctor friends help him without reservation.  Even Nichols gives him money and does not turn him in which he easily could have since a cop was right there.  

The structure and setpieces of the film through the first two acts are superb.  The film had six editors, which was probably needed because it debuted in cinemas six months after beginning production which is astonishingly fast.  The opening sequence is edited swiftly to carry us through Kimble's arrest, trial and transportation to death row.  The spectacular bus/train crash is caused not by an accident but from a failed prisoner escape attempt (which Kimble does not participate in but benefits from).  The initial chase in the woods comes after Gerard and his team have been established and Kimble barely escapes but we see Gerard will be just one step behind him.  The only false note here is I could not understand why Kimble stole an ambulance which is hardly inconspicuous vehicle, though he may not have been aware that he was the subject of such a big manhunt at the time.  

The City Hall sequence also shows clever filmmaking as Davis toys with our expectations.  We believe Kimble and Gerard will see each other on the staircase but the staging reveals they are actually on opposite sides of a hall.  We breathe a sigh of relief but Gerard's catching a glimpse of what might be Kimble (who has dyed his hair black since they last saw each other) and then confirming it by calling out his first name (which would cause anyone to react) leads to a fun chase in which Kimble then gets the cops to slow Gerard down.  The only thing I do not like is Gerard shooting at Kimble, which delivers a shock, but is hardly necessary given the circumstances.  Jones as Gerard sells the act and Ford as Kimble looks appropriately terrified by it as the bulletproof glass saves him but I do not believe Davis the filmmaker established why Gerard, who is not trigger happy generally, would fire on Kimble repeatedly.  

The finale in the Chicago Hilton is dramatically satisfying but visually underwhelming.  The sequence plays as if the filmmakers got the location and then had to figure out what to do with it.  I believe Harrison Ford can last in a long fistfight but am not so sure about Krabbe.  The struggle should have been more brief and the laundry room setting, even though it is edited well, is unworthy for the finale of what has been a superb film up to this point.  The final two moments between Kimble and Gerard are played well as Ford just looks physically and emotionally exhausted from his ordeal but I would not have minded an additional scene providing an epilogue.  

James Newton Howard provides a memorable score using a lot of woodwinds and orchestra which  gives a jazzier sound that work in the suspense moments and an emotional main theme.  The score is so well done it was used in the TV series.  

In my recent post on U.S. Marshals I argued the two films should be viewed separately.  However I do feel that this film is far superior because of the difference in the protagonists.  Both films are skillfully made but Kimble is a man who is thrown into a situation he has to figure out despite being completely unprepared and he also suffers an enormous personal loss so the audience is really rooting for him.  Sheridan is an agent who is used to working undercover and skilled in combat so watching him go up against Gerard is more of a fun cat and mouse game.  

I enjoyed the 2000 revival on CBS with Tim Daly as Kimble, future Avatar antagonist Stephen Lang as the one-armed man and Mykleti Williamson as Gerard.  The show had some of the stunt work on the scale of the movie but added some of the drama of the original series, though they tried to keep an ongoing plot thread.  I thought the pilot was edited a little too tightly and questioned the flashbacks in the middle of Kimble's first big foot chase with Gerard but liked the show's tone.  Daly in particular gave a moving performance as a decent man thrown into a living nightmare.  It aired on Friday nights and never caught on with a massive audience even though I thought it was well made.  CSI started at the same time and aired after the Fugitive and turned into an enormous hit with several spin offs so I suppose audiences weren't interested in seeing a new version.  I never saw the Kiefer Sutherland version but it appeared they kept the title and some of the premise but changed a lot of the names.  

The Fugitive film is an excellent film that is both thrilling and emotional and gets the most out of its premise.  *****