‹ All movies
The Fugitive poster

The Fugitive

year 1993decade 90sdirector Andrew Davisgenre Thrillergenre Mystery

130 minutes

IMDbLetterboxdJustWatch
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

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Mallory Rubinproducer Craig Horlbeck format Liveevent Cold Weather Tourlocation Chicago
Explore episodeClose episode

Roger Ebert's review

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

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

Apex Mountain

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

The Fugitive | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Andy Greenwald
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The dam waterfall jump

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:54Read transcript
  • The category opens by naming the aborted bus escape and train crash as about as fun a five minutes as an action movie gets, followed by a clip of Tommy Lee Jones taking over the investigation.
  • Tommy Lee Jones's entrance is rated about as good as any, compared with Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter; he owns the movie from the moment he shows up.
  • The nominees are the aborted bus escape and train crash, Tommy Lee Jones taking over the investigation, the dam waterfall jump, and the ending, called the big four.
  • One participant goes with the dam: it is played realistically, with Ford visibly weighing a no-win jump, and it is called the best part of his performance, including the moment he puts down the gun.
  • The dam scene contains 'I don't care', called maybe the best line in the movie and said to be ad-libbed by Tommy Lee Jones.
  • The early face-to-face meeting is praised as smart construction, followed by Gerard's orders to turn the dam off and a joke about the U.S. Marshals budget.
  • A second participant says they are with Chris and like the dam scene.
  • The third participant picks the bus escape and train crash, joking about the prisoners' silent plan, the bus flipping without deaths, the guards near retirement, and the guard who survives a toothbrush stabbing.

What’s Aged the Best?

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:06Read transcript
  • The options offered are the train scene, the dam scene and Tommy Lee Jones.
  • One participant goes with TLJ, a second says TLJ too, and the third agrees, while noting the set pieces are worth considering.
  • The performance is timeless like Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs and Lillard in Scream; a Sam Gerard U.S. Marshal TV show would be watched every week.
  • The physical train set piece now looks almost quaint, whereas the character-based dam scene is timeless.
  • No one of that generation could have played Gerard as well; William Holden is floated from the 70s, John Cusack is a cautionary example, and Hackman is the only other option though less fit for chasing through a sewer.
  • Tommy Lee Jones improvised or tweaked much of his dialogue, including 'hinky' and the chocolate donut with sprinkles; every great line is his, called his Mona Lisa.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Train-scene CGI; Harrison Ford's beard; missing DNA evidence; pre-cell-phone premise; cardigans; bus accident

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:01Read transcript
  • The train and dam scenes lacked the right CGI; Ford was filmed on a wire against a green screen, and the one-chance crash cost about a million dollars.
  • The train arrived faster than planned (42 versus 35 mph) and six Harrison Ford dummies, made for about 75 grand, were all destroyed.
  • The CGI in the train scene is one nomination.
  • Harrison Ford's beard is nominated; another participant loves it as facial-hair acting, and the hospital shave and egg sandwich are recalled.
  • The lack of DNA evidence in Kimble's conviction ages badly when watched in 2017, including the DA's 'voice from the grave' evidence.
  • Like many movies of the era, cell phones would have prevented the story; Kimble can waltz anywhere, and Enemy of the State already shows a different world.
  • An early sequence where everyone wears tweed blazers, corrected to cardigans, is a major issue for one participant; outfit changes are deferred to nitpicks.
  • Another pick is not the train crash but the bus accident, which feels like a matchbox bus rolling down a sand mound.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Bald Black convict on the train; Jeroen Krabbé

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:11Read transcript
  • Tommy Lee Jones is disqualified from the award.
  • Nominees include the one-armed man (Katsulas) and the bald Black convict on the train, who is said to deserve his own sequel or the U.S. Marshals fugitive role; Joey Pants and Dr. Charles Nichols make four candidates.
  • A write-in candidate is all the reporters at the Tommy Lee Jones press conference, including an actor from Veep and two apparent real Chicago columnists.
  • Side note: Andreas Katsulas was on Babylon 5 and has died; its creator said he loved smoking with a passion that cannot be described.
  • One participant names the bald Black convict the winner: in three scenes he goes 'seven for eight with ten rebounds.'
  • Another makes a small argument for Krabbé (transcribed 'Jerome Krabb'), who must have laughed at the script and is dining out on those scenes.
  • The Nichols character is obviously the villain as soon as he reappears; he is not plausible as Kimble's friend, and the Charlie and Chuck names do not fit a Dutchman.

Apex Mountain

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:38:06Read transcript
  • After Transporter 3 is mentioned, Apex Mountain starts with Krabbé: this was his apex, absolutely, since no other movie of his comes to mind.
  • Harrison Ford: obviously not.
  • Sela Ward: no; Once and Again is raised as her breakout.
  • Tommy Lee Jones: unquestionably yes, with No Country for Old Men the only counterargument.
  • There is no argument for Harrison Ford here; his apex is the first Raiders, coming amid the Star Wars trilogy.
  • The one-armed man, Andreas Katsulas: definitely.
  • This is not Joe Pantoliano's apex; candidates raised include The Sopranos, Guido the Killer Pimp, The Matrix, Bad Boys, Eddie and the Cruisers, Running Scared and Risky Business.
  • A case is made that The Fugitive was the apex of Pantoliano being likable and welcome, when people recognized him and were excited he was there.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Danny Trejo as a bus prisoner

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:05Read transcript
  • The segment is introduced as a new category that came from a reader.
  • Yes: he would have been one of the prisoners on the bus, called a great, easy call.
  • Alternatives: Trejo as the one-armed man, as Sam Gerard, or as a marshal who refuses to fetch the donut.
  • A third-act twist: the other one-armed man interviewed in prison is Trejo with an arm.
  • The new category is declared a huge success, with jokes about retroactively applying it to Silence of the Lambs and Heat.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

11-episode Netflix series with Jon Hamm or Mark Ruffalo as Kimble and Viola Davis, Idris Elba or Michael Shannon as the marshal

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:31Read transcript
  • An 11-episode Netflix show is accepted; the Devlin MacGregor plot is more believable now than in 1993.
  • One participant picks Mark Ruffalo as Kimble for his mix of intelligence, innocence and looking aggrieved.
  • Jon Hamm is proposed, then said to also have been another participant's choice: a believable doctor with a great jaw and big charismatic TV star.
  • Ruffalo's case is defended with a 'they knew' sequel joke, but he is later dismissed as busy with the Hulk.
  • The marshal should be Black or a woman to change the dynamic, with Viola Davis suggested; the pairing lands on Hamm and Viola.
  • Joey Pants could come out of retirement as an older Cosmo.
  • For a male minority Gerard, someone with a comedian background is suggested, with Chris Rock raised, and Idris Elba is proposed; Elba is questioned on sarcasm but defended via Molly's Game and Luther.
  • Liam Neeson as an older fugitive would not survive the dam; Brad Pitt would have been a great fugitive in a movie version.
  • A tech-era version would need to handle the internet, which makes it less of a pure ride; Will Smith basically already did it.
  • Michael Shannon is suggested as Sam Gerard; one participant dislikes him.
  • The Fugitive should be a binge-watch show; a series could have a different fugitive, director and writer every season.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:33Read transcript
  • TLJ wins; the category is barely needed, and he is called the star of the movie.
  • He had been a respected character actor who played villains, was 47 at the time, and was on minds from JFK.
  • His career is traced from Coal Miner's Daughter and The Executioner's Song through JFK and Under Siege to The Client, Natural Born Killers, Cobb, Batman Forever and Men in Black; The Fugitive unleashed him.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Tommy Lee Jones

Mentions across The Rewatchables