Picking Nits
No lawyer; rushed trial; youngest cop says 'book him'; painless beard shave; Nichols's names and help; unclear motive to kill Kimble's wife; Provasic focus; one-armed hitman; Sela Ward's rose petals
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:25Read transcript
- Kimble, a smart doctor and the clear sole suspect, never gets a lawyer, and the 18-27 month trial is yada-yada'd into a first-degree murder conviction on a phone call and an insurance motive.
- Gerard is the first to suggest a rich doctor may not need the insurance money.
- In the rapid-fire interrogation, the youngest-looking cop is the one who gets to say 'book him.'
- Shaving off a grown beard always hurts, yet Kimble shaves with an old guy's razor and scissors and looks great; the counter is that he stitched himself up without flinching.
- Would anyone really call Dr. Nichols Chuck or Charlie; why would Nichols help Kimble with money at all.
- Why they had to kill Kimble and his wife doesn't make sense, compared with The Firm; the last third spends too much time on Provasic, though a counterpoint says it foretold the pharma industry.
- Context questions: the Silence of the Lambs-style misdirect is used about five times, and a modern version would add a twist; the helicopter search and isolated L train audio felt cutting edge then.
- Why the friend didn't turn him in right away, and the long Devlin MacGregor fishing-trip exposition.
- The one-armed hitman is too risky and should have afforded a nicer apartment; the counter is that he must be twice as good at security with half the arms.
- Sela Ward's rose-petal homecoming gilds the lily; one participant says it should have been in most dated.