There are a rare few times I ever get the chance to thank Harrison Ford for being an iconic actor throughout my childhood from loving every minute of the Star Wars Trilogy to worshiping his performance in all the Indiana Jones films (well, except the fifth film). Though sure the man after 2000's has lost his marbles when it comes to finding good parts and his movies do become lack luster after 1997. But of all movies I have to re-watch again and say he truly delivers an excellent performance, it would most certainly be his portrayal of Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive. This film became a discussion panel since August when I was talking with my sister and brother, moreover, it has been a long time since I watched this great film. So, what better way to give thanks by recommending The Fugitive as my November Recommendation.
Wrongfully accused of murdering his wife, Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) escapes from the law to find her killer and clear his name. Pursing him is a team of U.S. Marshalls led by Deputy Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), a determined detective who will not rest until Richard is captured. As Richard leads the team through a series of intricate chases, he discovers the secrets behind his wife's death and struggles to expose the killer before it's too late.
There's something about the wrongly accused 90's movies where you root for the protagonist every step of the way and the cops are just the worst that you look at them in disgust, and movies like "The Fugitive" and "The Negotiator" you can root for the protagonist from beginning to the very end. Although for sure Tommy Lee Jones plays a cop, on the pursuit of Harrison Ford's character but deep down he's on the neutral zone, in terms of trying to catch Ford, but soon realize that there’s something more to this, moreover he's not as dumb as the two Chicago cops played by Joseph Kosala and Ron Dean, who strangely enough is another one of those actors that's in the category of "Your that Guy" (basically actor/actress whose been in a lot of stuff but nobody remembers), basically Dean has of course been in this movie and was the coach who supported Rudy in Rudy and was one of the crooked cops in The Dark Knight. Bottom line these films like "The Fugitive" and "The Negotiator" were excellent action/suspense films in the 90's where you can root for the protagonist from beginning to the very end and yet you have personal reasons to root for the hero's every step of the way, and that's what I love about The Fugitive. Though of course what I love most about The Fugitive is of course Harrison Ford and this was one of the many Ford films, where Ford was still in his prime (till the end of 1997) and more importantly this was one of the many movies in my childhood where we would check this film out at the local video store and continue watching this movie from beginning to the final frame. Moreover, this was the first film where Harrison Ford through the first thirty minutes of the movie you see Ford in a beard, for which I remembered watching him for the first time watching the film, I was a bit confused as to why he has a beard but through the course of the movie when he shaves then I was relieved, although now when he's in his old age you don't mind but this was my childhood hero at the time and he has a beard for which, me as a kid creeped me out for a minute there though kind of confused me is a better term. Another thing, in what makes Harrison Ford great in this film is that the beginning of the film he's just experienced the death of his wife and being wrongfully accused for killing his wife and the way he portrays that feeling is almost like living a nightmare but you can't wake up and Ford portrays that perfectly, but more importantly this is a different kind of Ford movie to the extent that he's not playing an action hero, he just an ordinary man trying to prove his innocence and some of the action sequences are great in that he's not throwing a perfect punch it's more of a skirmish, and either way I love Harrison Ford's performance as well as now after watching this great film I do have to thank him because this was one of the rare few Ford movies besides Indiana Jones and Star Wars, that I grew up watching and love every minute of it. Surprisingly this was both Ford and Tommy Lee Jones only film together, for which sure these guys have different personas on acting, but I would think that these guys would be friends and yet they're not, for which I guess in all fairness these useless questions are left unanswered. Both Ford and Jones were excellent in the movie and there's a reasons why both of these actors were nominated for awards, but if I had to pick an actor that deserves some attention, it would most certainly be actor Jeroen Krabbe who plays Dr. Nichols one of the few bad guys who set's up Fords character, furthermore it's an interesting way he portrays his character from being a helpful friend not giving any details to the U.S. Marshalls and yet by end of the movie you slowly realize that he was one of the main bad guys responsible for Kimble's, Wife's murder and I personally like the slow transit reveal moreover think it's a great twist of events that, you may or may not get away with today's films. The Fugitive to me, is one of those great suspense films from the 90's that stands the test of time moreover shows how good or not so good Chicago was back in those days although that's kind of an understatement, but more importantly is one of the many Harrison Ford movies that I have to give thanks to because he shows how great of an actor he was until the man lost his mind after 1997, until we get to the late nineties to now where some of his films are hit and misses, but to me this film I give a ton of thanks to Harrison Ford because it' was always a movie I was allowed to watch moreover watched it a bunch of times and as always with this film he delivers a great performance and hopefully if you have a copy of the Fugitive, or don't I would highly recommend watching this season for giving thanks, no matter how crazy your childhood heroes are now, you always cherish the films that made these actors great.
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