"
the fugitive " is probably one of the greatest thrillers ever made .
it takes realistic , believable characters and tells an exciting story
that 's totally believable throughout .
this is n't an over - the - top action flick for the sake of action , this is an intelligent adventure story with a real sense of mystery to it and
it works perfectly .
harrison ford stars as dr .
richard kimble , a man who is wrongly accused and convicted of murdering his wife .
the entire premise of the story revolves around this murder , but is not told in a straightforward manner .
we constantly see flashbacks to the murder from kimble 's perspective .
hints are dropped from various times of the night kimble 's wife , helen ( sela ward ) was murdered .
we do n't get to see who the killer is until much further into the story .
in fact , we might even have a little doubt about kimble 's innocence ourselves .
the film does n't spend much time on the details of kimble 's trial and conviction as it is not the point of the story .
one of the greatest action scenes ensues as we get a botched escape attempt by his fellow inmates which leads to a fantastic train wreck .
but it does not at all seem gratuitous or formulated
, it is actually suspenseful to watch .
this movie is so incredible because it 's able to take elements like these and make them wholly original and believable .
tommy lee jones almost steals the show as deputy sam gerard , a u . s .
marshall who is an expert in hunting fugitives .
from the moment he appears we know a huge game of cat and mouse is about to occur .
kimble and gerard are equally matched as there is no way to tell how one is going to outsmart the other .
most of the film deals with richard 's complex investigation as he tries to find the one - armed man who killed his wife .
ford does not have a lot of lines here , so it is stuart and twohy 's script and davis 's outstanding direction that make the film as great as it is .
just watching richard use his keen intelligence and wits , disguising himself , and doing his own detective work is very interesting .
we know just as little as he does as to why his wife was killed , so as he learns more so do we .
meanwhile gerard and his staff are using all their skills to hunt him down .
at one point they run into each other and a great chase ensues , but richard is just too smart for them .
he leaves clues for gerard to show his innocence and to help him solve the mystery .
one of the greatest charms to the film is its sense of humor .
there is a great sense of comradeship between gerard and his two closest deputies cosmo renfo ( pantoliano ) and biggs ( roebuck ) .
they are trying to catch what they believe to be a dangerous murderer , yet they constantly start up small talk with each other , making funny wisecracks and one - liners , but not in any kind of distracting manner .
the final act concludes with another terrific chase .
richard figures out who the killer is and confronts him , and
although we get a typical fight scene , the case is far from solved .
the man who ordered the murder has been under our nose all along , and we do n't realize this until the end when both richard and gerard put the pieces together .
maybe the finally scene is a bit much , but it still has a believable atmosphere to it .
we 're so relieved when justice is served .
it 's not the plot is that makes " the fugitive " great , it 's all the motions the characters go through to make for an intriguing story .
watching a seemingly average man go through as much as this is what makes the movie so adventurous .
if only hollywood could produce more movies like this .
( 10/31/96 )
( 1/29/97 )
( 6/13/97 )
[ see also : " nick of time " ]
Output: P