Review of The Fugitive (1993) by Cameron J — 23 Dec 2012

It's the ultimate alien hunter showdown between Han Solo and Agent K, but don't get too excited, kids, because they're not shooting at each other with lasers and flying around in starships while sicking each other's loveable brown sidekicks on each other, partially because this film came out before Tommy Lee Jones even did "Men in Black". Granted, I doubt that this film's coming out after "MIB" would have actually changed it any way, though a post-"MIB" release would have probably diluted T.L. Jones' (Sounds like a rapper; with those deflated balloon cheeks, he could probably bust a mean beatbox) chance at getting an Oscar, seeing as how it would have given everyone a chance to see that Jones really does play this type of humorless charisma of a vulnerable leader role a lot. Don't get me wrong, this is a good performance by Jones and all, it's just that even if he actually had acting material, Jones would still be faced with the misfortune of playing it up the same year "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" came out and pretty much almost raised acting standards in general through Leonardo DiCaprio, and I'm just looking for any scenario in which DiCaprio gets the first of, like, six Oscars that were robbed for him. Eh, such a scenario may not exist, because the Ocars, for whatever reason, hate DiCaprio so much that they probably would have just ended up giving Best Supporting actor to Tom Berenger for "Silver", so Jones may as well have just gotten this role over with in '93, collect the award that the Oscars were trying to give him for years and go home to get ready for his alien hunting with Will Smith. Really, if any role was likely to be altered based on this film's release date, then it would probably be the one of the transit cop who spots Kimble on the train, because as serious as this film is, I doubt that the filmmakers would have casted Neil Flynn, even for a cameo, if this film came out after "Scrubs" started airing, because I can't even watch him in this film nearly 20 years later without shouting out, "Janitor!" Man, I really dug that show, though I'd imagine the series upon which this film is based ain't too shabby, neither, because, well, my dad says it was good, and because it sure does make for a good movie. Still, with all of its rewarding thrills, this film's momentum can only go on for so long before it takes a hit from more than a few factors.

This film's story type is one that has been tackled time and again throughout the years of chase thrillers, and is with a very thin opportunity for dynamicity, having a very precise formula that this film can't help but succumb to, and while conventionalism isn't too hard to not mind with this film in particular, seeing as how it does have the occasional undeniably unique touch and handles its story formula better than plenty of other chase thrillers of its type, conventionalism still stands, nevertheless, giving you a bit too much of a sense of been-there-done-that that may be compensated for throughout the film, but not enough to fully dissipate a degree of distancing predictability. It's easy to forgive this film for its being rather formulaic, due to the compensating strengths, yet there's no way around the conventionalism without some degree of dilution within momentum, which goes further retarded by a flaw that is a little bit less predictable than conventionalism: slow spells, which are, of course, limited, nearly to the point of being rare, but still stand and throw off momentum into a degree of dull disengagement, something that can still be found within the film even when it keeps up momentum, if momentum is being kept up for too long that is. Okay, maybe, "dull" isn't the best term to use when describing the excessiveness of the film's momentum, but make no mistake, when this film picks up, it takes its sweet time milking intrigue for all its worth, and while that certainly makes for quite the effective thriller, after a while of constant momentum, exhaustion ensues and thins intrigue into its opposite, blandness, not in the least helped by the film's being just too long in most every other regard. At 130 minutes, this film is relatively quite lengthy for its type, and makes good and sure that you don't forget that by padding out the film, not necessarily to no end, but to where the aforementioned excessiveness of momentum and repetition bloat the film with an overlong length, whose gratutiousness would be more obscured if it wasn't for substance thinness' really emphasizing this film's not warranting the hefty length that it dons. Now, I'm not asking for half of the film to be an extensively graceful meditation upon the dramatic depth behind character motivation, partially because there is actually quite a bit of depth to be found within this relentless thriller, though still not quite as much as there probably should be, because although substance is meaty and backed up by perhaps even meatier compensating style, there's still a considerable amount of thinness to exposition that dilutes your full investment in the character, story and all around impact that drives this high-impact thriller, thus creating a degree of emotional distance and, by extension, full attention distance. This is a film that rarely slows down, and that's all fine and good, and certainly goes into making the final product rewarding in its considerable entertainment value, yet at the same time, the constant momentum, alongside padding repetition and other blanding slip-ups, overwhelms atmosphere and makes it often disengaging, though not generally gripless. The firmness of the film's grasp on your investment loosens time and again, because of both excessiveness and thinness, but never releases you so much that you don't come rushing back to see what is to happen next, as the film, with all of its missteps, never lets up on slick style, including that of a musical nature.

James Newton Howard's score work for this film has its notable touches, yet never truly inventive, or even all that upstandingly unique, though it is strong, with a classic flavor of intrigue and range that makes for both interesting music and stylishly effective supplementation of intrigue, which goes further intensified by, of all things, the film's technicality. Outside of the occasional nifty special effect, including a pretty cool train wreck sequence early on, there's not too much to praise when it comes to production technicality, but when it comes to post-production technicality, this film's massive team of editors deliver on slickly clever cuts and airtight sequences of intrigue that play with momentum dynamically and stylishly, while John Leveque's and Bruce Stambler's sound editing thrusts you into the sounds of the environment and leaves you to feel the beats of the atmosphere immersively, especially when sound designing and stylish film editing both come into play as compliments to the thrilling action set pieces, of which, there are, well, probably too many. A clever and thoroughly buyable thriller, this film's isn't exactly "The Transporter", yet what action set pieces it has outstay there welcome at times, to the point of proving detrimental to the momentum that the action initially supplemented, yet not so much so that action's momentum goes completely thinned out, being driven by intricate staging and dynamic choreography that, when complimented by the aforementioned technical proficiency of the film, craft one taut action sequence after another to serve as a particularly striking height in the film's constant momentum. The film's style is dated a bit, and often directorially misused as a storytelling supplement, but remains generally near-razor-sharp, helping greatly in driving the momentum upon which this film is so heavily reliant, which is good, because the actual substance behind the story stands to have more meat to it. That being said, it's not like the film's substance value doesn't do about as much as the style does in driving the rewarding power of the film, because although exposition is thin, much like unique touches throghout the execution of a formulaic story concept, this film's story - familiar though, it may be - has quite a bit of value in concept that sparks immediate intrigue, intensified by even more value within the story concepts's execution, which is flawed, but not at all to where director Andrew Davis' inspiration can be ignored, as Davis' pacing is generally tight, keeping the film going on a steady flow that, when married with consistent atmospheric tension, sparks relentless momentum that may get to be exhausting after a while, but more often than not sustains your investment and keeps the story's intrigue and sense of consequence rich with consistent compellingness that would be nothing without the offscreen performance by Davis, as sure as it wouldn't be as intense as it ultimately is without recieving quite a bit of compliment from a certain pair of onscreen performances. As far as bonafide dramatic acting material is concerned, Tommy Lee Jones has nearly less than nothing to work with, so you can imagine my frustration in seeing Jones sweep the awards circuit while someone like DiCaprio, through "Gilbert Grape" is acting circles around anyone else in 1993, which isn't to say that Jones doesn't deliver, having not too much more to do than simply play Tommy Lee Jones, but commanding your attention, nevertheless, through sparkling charisma and a convincing presence that sells you on the firm leadership and harsh lust for justice that define the Deputy Samuel Gerard character as he tracks down Dr. Richard Kimble, a lead who is far from not engaging by his own right, as Harrison Ford delivers on his own convincing charisma, married with very rarely played up, yet often palpable emotional range that draws from the essence of Kimble, a wronged man seeking justice for the death of the light of his life, and crafts a lead who is as compellingly genuine as he is genuinely, well, awesome. The film has its shortcomings, whether they be natural or consequential, and that can be said about any other lesser action thriller of this type, yet what leaves this film to stand out is its being so intelligent and stylish, with a taut bite that stands to be firmer, yet sinks in just enough to keep you gripped through and through.

At the end of the chase, a degree of blandness leaves its mark, being driven by conventionalism within the story, as well as by the occasional slow spell and quite a few points in which momentum gets to be exhaustingly excessive enough for you to take more notice in the repetitious storytelling bloating of a story whose fair degree of thinness, combined with the aforementioned other missteps, can make for an underwhelming final product, something that this film is most definately not, compensating for its mistakes through fine score work and slick technicality that compliment the effectiveness of thrilling action sequences which particularly liven up the constant momentum within director Andrew Davis' execution of a generally intriguing story concept - further brought to life by compelling charismatic performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford - that goes into making Davis' "The Fugitive" a thoroughly entertaining production that rewards as a worthwhile thriller.

3/5 - Good.