Review of The Fugitive (1993) by Allen B — 14 May 2011

High octane action explosion movie that's pretty much just that and not much more. Harrison Ford has a beard for a bit, but otherwise plays the same character he's played in all his films. Tommy Lee Jones, on the other hand, is really off the wall and goofy for some reason. Not sure all that quirk was necessary, but what do I know? I'm not the one who won the Oscar for it. Was 93 a slow year for movies or something?

The plot is okay. Engaging and exciting, though it required a heck of a coincidence/moment of dumb luck for Ford's character to escape the way he did. And the ending was a tad predictable; I saw it coming about half way through, even though in retrospect it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Why was **SPOILERS** Ford's friend helping him the whole time if he was really just trying to screw him over? Why refuse to help the cops track him down at least, and play coy of his whereabouts? It fooled the audience, sure, but it wasn't very consistent with the story or the character. **END SPOILERS**.

There's also a surprise cameo from a younger Jane Lynch that totally threw me. Funny how much of a difference 15 years makes, to go from being a relative unknown with a bit part in a Harrison Ford film to an Emmy winner and a household name. And yet, it took her that long to achieve some kind of fame, and she's one of the lucky ones. Not really sure where I'm going with this. I'm sure there's a deep message about the nature of fame and Hollywood somewhere in there. If not, feel free to make up your own.

Overall, yeah, decent action film, maybe a touch overrated. It's good for what it is, nothing more; certainly not Academy Award worthy, though.