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The Fugitive

130 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Harrison Ford Dr. Richard Kimble
Tommy Lee Jones Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard
Sela Ward Helen Kimble
Joe Pantoliano Deputy U.S. Marshal Cosmo Renfro
Andreas Katsulas Fredrick Sykes
Jeroen Krabbé Dr. Charles Nichols
Daniel Roebuck Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Biggs
Tom Wood Deputy U.S. Marshal Noah Newman
L. Scott Caldwell Deputy U.S. Marshal Erin Poole
Johnny Lee Davenport Deputy U.S. Marshal Henry
Julianne Moore Dr. Anne Eastman
Ron Dean Detective Kelly
Joseph Kosala Detective Rosetti
Jane Lynch Dr. Kathy Wahlund
Dick Cusack Attorney Walter Gutherie
Andy Romano Judge Bennett
Nick Searcy Sheriff Rawlins
Eddie Bo Smith Copeland
Neil Flynn Transit Cop
Richard Riehle Old Guard
Kirsten Nelson Hospital Secretary
David Darlow Dr. Alec Lentz
Frank Ray Perilli Corrections Officer
Lester Holt Newscaster
David U. Hodges Marshal David
John M. Watson Sr. Bones Roosevelt
Roland Burris Smiling Man in Parade

The Fugitive | The Rewatchables

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Roger Ebert's review

Roger Ebert’s review is discussed: 4 stars

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:25Read transcript
  • The hosts report Ebert awarded four stars
  • They discuss his praise of the film as accomplished entertainment

Most Rewatchable Scene

Dam chase versus the opening 24 minutes

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:50Read transcript
  • Opening interrogation
  • Bus fight and bus/train crash
  • Marshals taking over the investigation
  • Dam pursuit and jump
  • Copeland’s capture
  • St. Patrick’s Day chase
  • Kimble calling Gerard from Sykes’s apartment
  • Subway fight
  • Cardiology-conference confrontation
  • Final Kimble/Gerard exchange
  • Mallory favors the dam chase
  • Chris favors the opening 24 minutes and 20 seconds
  • Bill favors the opening crash material; the definition of a single scene is debated

What’s Aged the Best?

Chicago, Ford, Jones and the ensemble

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:08Read transcript

The Vincent Chase Award: Are We Sure This Character Is Actually Good at Their Job?

Charles Nichols; Sykes and the defense attorney also considered

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:17Read transcript
  • Nichols’s failure to neutralize Kimble
  • Nichols’s denial of knowing a colleague
  • Pathology approvals dated after Lentz’s death
  • The implausible no-side-effects claim
  • Sykes killing the wrong person and failing again
  • The defense attorney is nominated; his shortcomings are deferred

What’s Aged the Worst?

Defense failures, disguise logic and sequels

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:33Read transcript
  • Kimble’s legal defense
  • Forensic/DNA handling is criticized as dated
  • Failure to show Kimble testifying
  • Slow parallel prosthetics investigations
  • Oversized opening credits
  • Joe Pantoliano’s wig
  • Pre-CGI concealment of the actor’s arm
  • U.S. Marshals and later adaptations
  • Removal of Julianne Moore’s romantic subplot is debated and defended
  • People failing to recognize Ford’s distinctive face
  • The final Nichols/Kimble fight

Half-Assed Internet Research

Ford’s injury, the real train crash and Chicago filming

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:34Read transcript
  • Ford’s injured knee and incorporated limp
  • Six screenwriters and 25 drafts reported
  • A real train crash with a single practical attempt
  • North Carolina railroad location
  • Chicago locations and the actual 1993 parade
  • Cold conditions during parade filming
In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:31Read transcript
  • Harrison Ford: no
  • Ford playing Desmondo: yes as a joke
  • Ford’s doctor roles compared with Frantic
  • Tommy Lee Jones: yes
  • Joe Pantoliano: disagreement; The Sopranos favored instead
  • Pantoliano’s bad wigs: no
  • One-armed killers: yes
  • Andrew Davis: yes
  • Dutch men named Chuck: raised without a clear verdict
  • Chicago movies: disputed, with Ferris Bueller, Blues Brothers, Thief and The Dark Knight mentioned
  • Fugitives: O.J. Simpson offered instead
  • Characters named Cosmo: a strong year

Picking Nits

Disguise, defense attorney and conspiracy logic

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:40Read transcript
  • Craig questions Sykes’s security role and corporate fishing trips
  • Chris questions Kimble’s minimal disguise
  • Stolen clothes fitting Kimble is debated
  • Mallory questions the fundraiser’s swimsuit show
  • Kimble fails to request counsel promptly
  • Craig questions water falling on the gun
  • Nichols’s conference patter is missing
  • Mallory challenges the defense’s handling of Helen’s call and circumstantial evidence
  • Shaving a large beard with a disposable razor
  • Craig questions Kimble’s janitor performance
  • Gerard’s shooting choices in the courthouse
  • Nichols’s incriminating photos
  • A rollerblading nurse
  • Instant train-audio identification
  • Mallory corrects the earlier podcast’s too-handsome Jon Hamm objection
  • Craig asks why Kimble does not take the evidence straight to Gerard
  • Kimble helping patients is defended
  • Cosmo’s implausibly minor head wound

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Kill Sykes; rethink the one-arm story; defend the marriage

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:32:22Read transcript
  • The category is initially almost skipped but is then completed
  • Mallory argues Nichols should have Sykes killed
  • Chris argues Kimble’s one-armed-man account sounds incriminating
  • Craig has no prepared take
  • Bill proposes an attraction-based defense argument

Is This Movie Better With…?

Byron Mayo, Wayne Jenkins and Harling Mays

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:06Read transcript
  • Byron Mayo inserted into the hospital encounter
  • Wayne Jenkins as a marshal
  • Harling Mays treating Kimble after the dam

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Escape plan, Kimble’s fame, the cat and alternate futures

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:51Read transcript
  • Effectiveness of the fake seizure escape
  • Craig asks how famous Kimble would become
  • How much cash Nichols gives Kimble
  • Mallory asks what happened to the Kimble family cat
  • Gerard as an NFL coach
  • Craig asks why the river cannot be dyed blue
  • A shared Chicago movie universe
  • Whether faster emergency dispatch could have saved Helen
  • The logic of the incriminating call
  • Kimble and the woman who offers him a ride
  • A twist making Kimble guilty after all
  • How quickly Sykes would be caught through social media

The Andy and Red – Zihuatanejo Award for What Happens the Next Day?

Celebrity, medicine or private investigation

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:22Read transcript
  • Kimble becomes a celebrity bachelor
  • Kimble reconnects with Dr. Eastman
  • Loss of faith leads Kimble to private investigation
  • Courtside recognition
  • A new home with the surviving cat
  • Devlin McGregor’s liability and the drug’s future are debated

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Jacket, tissue slide, cash, prosthetic arm and clothing

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:45:20Read transcript
  • Green jacket
  • Liver tissue sample / pathology slide
  • Nichols’s cash
  • Prosthetic arm
  • Cook County ID
  • Nichols’s tennis pullover and Fila tracksuit
  • Newman’s ponytail is jokingly declined

More from the conversation

Live in Chicago, part of the Cold Weather Tour, revisiting an earlier Fugitive episode.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:29Read transcript
The redirect-twist discussion recalls the earlier episode; it is retained as a discussion topic rather than invented as a new named category.
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:19Read transcript
Craig is introduced on stage explicitly as the producer before contributing to Picking Nits.
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:20Read transcript

Mentions across The Rewatchables

Double Feature

Under Siege

The Rewatchables · aired December 25, 2023

The Fugitive was the consensus anchor; U-571, The Package, and Code of Silence were alternatives.