The Fugitive review

 Number 505 on the top 1000 films of all time is the action-thriller 'The Fugitive.'

The Fugitive is based on the famous TV show of the same name. It tells the story of respected Chicago surgeon Dr Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) who is sentenced to death for the murder of his wife, despite protesting his innocence. He escapes from custody and aims to prove his innocence while evading recapture by US Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones.) Joe Pantoliano and Julianne Moore co-star.

At the 1993 Academy Awards, Tommy Lee Jones controversially won Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He beat out the likes of Leonardo Dicaprio for What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Pete Poselthwaite for in the Name of the Father, Ralph Fiennes for Schindler's List and John Malkovich for In the Line of Fire - with Fiennes being a shoe-in for the award. Having seen all but Malkovich's performance, I agree that the controversy was justified. Any one of the other actors would have been justified in winning the award.

Tommy Lee Jones was certainly a charismatic and entertaining presence as Sam Gerard. Was he Oscar-worthy? Absolutely not.

If anybody did deserve an Oscar nod, it would have been Harrison Ford who was great as the leading man Dr Richard Kimble. Yet despite the emotional pathos he brought to the role, he wasn't even nominated. It was a great shame, as I'm tempted to call it some of his best work. Unlike Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Blade Runner, where he played a roguish hero, Dr Ricard Kimble was an everyman.

Speaking of a shame, Julianne Moore was largely wasted in a supporting role. She plays a doctor in the hospital where Kimble hides as a fugitive. He pretends to be a janitor there. Despite scenes being shot giving her a much larger role including being Kimble's new love interest, these were eventually cut.

While we're talking about supporting actors, I've yet to see Joe Pantoliano in a leading man role. He plays supporting characters like the police detective here with so much gusto and energy. It's a shame he's always relegated to the supporting cast.

Questionable editing choices aside, I did enjoy the Fugitive. Granted, it was pure nonsense especially with Kimble surviving his jump from the dam, I was willing to suspend my disbelief. It helped that you could see it was so obviously a dummy. Maybe there were some Tommy Lee Jones' fans adamant that he was fully deserving of his Oscar, to quote Sam Gerard: "I don't care."