The Fugitive (1993)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Fugitive (1993) – A. Davis

A big hit in its day (based on the concept of the TV series from the 1960s), this is a Hollywood thriller, no more, no less.  That is not to say that it isn’t very enjoyable – it is! Harrison Ford (in serious/glum mode, not smart alecky) is Dr Richard Kimble, whose wife is killed by a mysterious one-armed man at the start of the film, a crime for which Kimble himself is given the death penalty.  But when the bus carrying prisoners crashes and is then hit by a train, Kimble escapes (hence, the title).  He is pursued by US Marshall Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) and his team (including off the top of a very tall dam!).  After he comes to his senses, Kimble decides to return to Chicago and attempts to track down the killer, which means sneaking into hospitals to gather evidence which points in a certain direction (no spoilers here).  Whether or not the MacGuffin has further resonance in society (it surely does, these days), the film is superbly edited to produce the right amount of thrills (though not really any dread or true worry for Kimble). You know it is all going to work out and it is fun to see the clues fall into place.  Director Andrew Davis doesn’t seem to have had any subsequent hits, so this might have been one of those lucky times when the stars (Ford and Jones) were properly aligned.