The Fugitive
A man on the run must prove his innocence.
Why does one thriller stand out from another? What is it about The Fugitive that makes it just as good today as it was twenty-three years ago? What makes it last?
I think most thrillers aim to thrill first, and tell a story second. Turn the tension up to ten and leave it there. Think the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds. It never lets up. I can't really say anything bad about that format. It can work really really well, and a lot of people enjoy it.
What makes The Fugitive different, and aids tremendously in its longevity, is the credibility, or believability. The suspension of disbelief is so far ahead of the action on the screen that you would believe it was based on a true story. In most thrillers and action movies the suspension of disbelief is riding the action like a surfer riding a wave - right there on the leading edge. You risk the surfer falling off and everything being very uncool, but if the surfer stays in front it's awesome. In the case of The Fugitive, the suspension of disbelief is catching some rays on the beach, and just has to move its towel now and then to keep dry.
It's not that the filmmakers made tame action sequences either. Everyone remembers the famous set piece where Harrison Ford jumps off the dam. Therein lies some of the magic. Watching the movie, you'd swear you'd jump too.
The credibility is not limited to the action scenes by any means. The detail in the set design and set decoration is astonishing, yet hardly noticeable. It's very difficult to tell which are sets and which are actual locations. The actors never went too far with any lines. And there were many practical shots that lended credibility like nothing else can. I don't mean things as simple as real explosions, I mean a real train crash for goodness sake. Has any other movie done a practical full-size train crash? This is all not even mentioning the helicopter shots, the shots with dozens of extras, or the fact that the U.S. Marshall's office was clearly actually filmed in a skyscraper in Chicago. The little things add up very fast in this movie. By the end of it I can almost remember seeing Richard Kimble on an episode of America's Most Wanted.
The dialogue is another high point worth mentioning. There isn't really a single exposition scene in the whole movie, yet by the end you know exactly who did what and why. And like all good dialogue it makes you believe that these characters had a life before this movie and will continue their life after the movie. Also, much of the bickering between Tommy Lee Jones' character and his deputies serves the second purpose of easing off of, and offering comedic release from the depressive and downtrodden tone of all the Richard Kimble scenes. Before the climax of the movie, this depressive feel over Harrison Ford's scenes only lets up once, when he "acts like Mother Theresa" - as Joe Pantoliano's character puts it - and redirects a hospitalized child from observation to surgery, saving the child's life. For just a moment we see Richard Kimble's ability to help people and the satisfaction he gets from it. With this scene we want Richard to clear his name so he can help people again. Without it, he might be a lot like the doctor who framed him, in it for the prestige and the money.
Rather ironically, the only thing about The Fugitive that is played up is the realism. And while I can confidently say that this realism makes The Fugitive unique, I can't say that it makes the film special all by itself. In the end I think what really makes this movie special is the incredible work done by all involved, and the way it comes together so well. I can name plenty of movies where it is clear that everyone involved believed in the project and had the skills needed, but the pieces don't always come together well. With The Fugitive it's like it was meant to be. No smoke and mirrors, no sleight of hand. Just brilliant filmmaking.
The dialogue is another high point worth mentioning. There isn't really a single exposition scene in the whole movie, yet by the end you know exactly who did what and why. And like all good dialogue it makes you believe that these characters had a life before this movie and will continue their life after the movie. Also, much of the bickering between Tommy Lee Jones' character and his deputies serves the second purpose of easing off of, and offering comedic release from the depressive and downtrodden tone of all the Richard Kimble scenes. Before the climax of the movie, this depressive feel over Harrison Ford's scenes only lets up once, when he "acts like Mother Theresa" - as Joe Pantoliano's character puts it - and redirects a hospitalized child from observation to surgery, saving the child's life. For just a moment we see Richard Kimble's ability to help people and the satisfaction he gets from it. With this scene we want Richard to clear his name so he can help people again. Without it, he might be a lot like the doctor who framed him, in it for the prestige and the money.
Rather ironically, the only thing about The Fugitive that is played up is the realism. And while I can confidently say that this realism makes The Fugitive unique, I can't say that it makes the film special all by itself. In the end I think what really makes this movie special is the incredible work done by all involved, and the way it comes together so well. I can name plenty of movies where it is clear that everyone involved believed in the project and had the skills needed, but the pieces don't always come together well. With The Fugitive it's like it was meant to be. No smoke and mirrors, no sleight of hand. Just brilliant filmmaking.
No comments:
Post a Comment