The Fugitive (1993 film)

The Fugitive
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Andrew Davis
Screenplay by	Jeb Stuart David Twohy
Story by	David Twohy Roy Huggins (Characters)
Produced by	Arnold Kopelson
Starring	Harrison Ford Tommy Lee Jones
Cinematography	Michael Chapman
Edited by	Dennis Virkler
Music by	James Newton Howard
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	August 6, 1993 (1993-08-06)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$44 million
Box office	$368,875,760

The Fugitive is a 1993 American drama film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Jones won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. The supporting cast includes Andreas Katsulas, Sela Ward, Jeroen Krabbé, Julianne Moore, and Joe Pantoliano. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Plot

Dr. Richard Kimble, a successful surgeon in Chicago, comes home one night to find his wife, Helen, fatally wounded by a one-armed man, and though he attempts to subdue the killer, the man escapes. The lack of evidence of a break-in, being the beneficiary of Helen's lucrative life insurance and a misunderstood 9-1-1 call lead to Kimble being convicted of first-degree murder, for which he is sentenced to death. On his way to death row via bus, the other prisoners attempt an escape that wounds a guard and kills the driver, causing the bus to fall into the path of an oncoming train. Kimble barely escapes the bus's destruction—saving the guard's life by dragging him out of the bus—and flees into the night. Deputy Samuel Gerard and a group of US Marshals arrive, to locate and round up the escaped convicts while the injured are taken to a nearby hospital. Kimble sneaks into the same hospital to treat his wounds and change his appearance. While leaving the hospital, he is recognized by the injured guard, but escapes in an ambulance. Gerard blockades a tunnel through a nearby dam to stop Kimble's escape, but Kimble abandons the vehicle and climbs into the storm water system. Kimble is eventually cornered by Gerard above the outlet of the dam spillway. Kimble dives over the edge and swims downstream, leaving no trail for the Marshals to follow.

Kimble returns to Chicago to find the murderer and receives some money from his friend and associate, Dr. Charles Nichols. Posing as a janitor, Kimble enters Cook County Hospital's prosthetic department to obtain a list of people who had their prosthetic arm repaired shortly after his wife's murder. Gerard realizes that Kimble must be looking for the one-armed man and begins a similar search to anticipate Kimble's next move. Kimble goes to the Cook County Jail to meet a one-armed man accused of armed robbery, but sees he is not the murderer. Gerard and his team also go to the jail with the same suspicion, and Gerard spots Kimble as he is leaving. A chase ensues, in which Gerard fires several shots at Kimble which are stopped by bulletproof glass. Gerard chases Kimble into Chicago's St. Patrick's Day parade where Kimble barely escapes. At the home of the next person on the list, a former police officer named Frederick Sykes, Kimble confirms the man is the murderer and finds he is employed by a pharmaceutical company that is working on a new drug called Provasic. Kimble had investigated the drug and discovered that it caused liver damage, which would have prevented it from being approved by the FDA. He also finds that Nichols, who is leading the drug's development, arranged a cover-up, and ordered Sykes to kill Kimble (his wife's death was incidental). Gerard follows Kimble to Sykes's home and draws the same conclusion.

As Kimble takes an L train to confront Nichols, Sykes attacks him, and in the ensuing struggle, Sykes shoots a transit cop before being subdued and handcuffed to a wall by Kimble. Moments later, Kimble interrupts Nichols's speech, accusing him of falsifying his data. They begin to fight while being chased by Gerard and hostile Chicago police. When Kimble, Nichols, and Gerard are all in the hotel's laundry room, Gerard calls out that he knows about the conspiracy organized by Nichols. Hearing this, Nichols turns to shoot Gerard but at the last moment Kimble hits him from behind, saving Gerard's life. Kimble is taken into custody, since he was still technically a fugitive. Once inside the car Gerard unlocks his handcuffs as they are driven away.

Cast

• Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble
• Tommy Lee Jones as Deputy Samuel Gerard
• Jeroen Krabbé as Dr. Charles Nichols
• Andreas Katsulas as Frederick Sykes
• Joe Pantoliano as Agent Cosmo Renfro
• Sela Ward as Helen Kimble
• Julianne Moore as Dr. Anne Eastman
• Daniel Roebuck as Agent Robert Biggs
• L. Scott Caldwell as Agent Poole
• Tom Wood as Agent Noah Newman
• Ron Dean as Detective Kelly
• Joseph F. Kosala as Detective Rosetti
• David Darlow as Dr. Lentz
• Eddie Bo Smith Jr. as Copeland
• Jane Lynch as Dr. Kathy Wahlund
• Nick Searcy as Sheriff Rawlins
• Neil Flynn as Transit Cop

Production

Although almost half of the film is set in rural Illinois, a large portion of the principal filming was actually shot in Jackson County, North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains. The scene involving Kimble's prison transport bus and a freight train wreck was filmed along the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad just outside of Dillsboro, North Carolina. Riders on the excursion railroad can still see the wreckage on the way out of the Dillsboro depot. Scenes in a hospital after Kimble escape were filmed at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva, North Carolina. Cheoah Dam was the location of the scene where Kimble jumped. In one scene, a road sign pointing to Murphy can be seen.

The rest of the film was shot in Chicago, Illinois, including some of the dam scenes, which were filmed in the remains of the Chicago freight tunnels (as well as Deals Gap, North Carolina). The "one-armed man" lived in the historic Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. Harrison Ford used the pay phone in the Pullman Pub, at which point he climbs a ladder and runs down the roofline of the historic rowhouses toward the one-armed man's house. There are several other scenes that show the rowhouses of the historic neighborhood. During the St. Patrick's Day Parade chase scene, Mayor Richard M. Daley and then-Illinois Attorney General Roland W. Burris are briefly shown as participants. One night scene under the "El" tracks showed Kimble exiting an alley by 130 N. Wells St., with "Chicago Memorial" covering the then-Illinois Bell Building sign.

Reception

The Fugitive opened strongly in the United States box office, grossing $23,758,855 in its first weekend and holding the top spot for six weeks until Striking Distance pushed it into 2nd place the seventh week of its release. It eventually went on to gross an estimated $183,875,760 in the US, and $368,875,760 worldwide.

The film was nominated for the following seven Academy Awards:

• Best Supporting Actor - Tommy Lee Jones (won)
• Best Picture (lost to Schindler's List)
• Best Cinematography (lost to Schindler's List)
• Best Sound Effects Editing (lost to Jurassic Park)
• Best Film Editing (lost to Schindler's List)
• Best Original Music Score (lost to Schindler's List)
• Best Sound (lost to Jurassic Park)

Jones also received numerous other awards for his role, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture. Director Andrew Davis received "Best Director" nominations at that year's Golden Globe and Directors Guild of America Awards (but was not honored with a similar nomination at the Academy Awards).

It also received enthusiastic reviews from film critics. As of July 2009, it received a 94% score and has been certified "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 86 or "universal acclaim" from Metacritic. Roger Ebert gave it 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "one of the year's best films". A few reviewers said it was marred by the ending, which introduced conspiracy and political elements to the film.

Novelization and remake

Jeanne Kalogridis wrote a mass-market paperback novelization of the film. She worked from the original screenplay, which eschews most of the humorous wisecracks spoken on film. Her novel looks more closely at some of the film's leading characters, especially Gerard and his newest subordinate. The film was also made into the Telugu film Criminal and the Malayalam film Nirnayam.

Sequel

Jones returned as Gerard in a sequel released in 1998, U.S. Marshals, which also featured Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr., Joe Pantoliano, and Tom Wood. While the second film also features Gerard's team of marshals hunting down an escaped fugitive accused of murder, it does not involve Kimble or the events of the first film. However, the fictional hospital at which Kimble works, Chicago Memorial, is featured.

External links

• The Fugitive at IMDb
• The Fugitive at AllMovie
• The Fugitive at Box Office Mojo
• The Fugitive at Rotten Tomatoes