NORTH BY NORTHWEST is the 1950s as THE FUGITIVE is the 1990s. Unlike thrillers of the past fifteen or so years, this cat-and-mouse game between Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones shows no wasted time. The wrongly convicted and sentenced Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) is dead-on about his innocence and will not go to the execution table without making that clear to the workers of the flawed criminal justice system--or to himself. In short terms, Kimble doesn't just mope around while the true killer runs free and fast. Luck and danger are on his side when the transport bus crashes and an incoming train is derailed. One of the film's stand-out, cover-your-eyes moments, the bus-and-train crash is. And off he goes to do what law enforcement are not even trying to do: FIND HIS WIFE'S ONE-ARMED KILLER. He must be very discreet to do it, being a "fugitive of the law". Likewise, Deputy U.S. Marshall Sam Gerard (Jones) is wasting no time in his efforts to catch his suprisingly resilient prey. Gerard is willing to break any rules--and any bones--to get his man; even to the point of shooting to kill. If only his team (Daniel Roebuck, Joe Pantoliano, L. Scott Caldwell) were a band of Joe Fridays and Bill Gannons instead of some imrpov troupe thrown into the wrong work force. Anyway, what makes this chase flick a winner is that story and characters are the heart of the story, not the plot. And it's no question that it is Kimble and Gerard who are running the show here. Another highlight is when Kimble makes it clear to Gerard that if he wants to catch him, he'd better get into the puzzle-solving habit--via phone call from the real killer's house. The writers of the picture and the director spare no effort at showing how high the tension rises when on the run, how single-minded police, witnesses, and more tend to be, and how desperate criminal offenders are to keep their crimes and/or involvement in such under wraps. Plus, testosterone is NOT the leading factor; content of character is. From start to finish, THE FUGITIVE stays the course it is meant to travel, with no sideway sentiment or flashy explosions attached. Plus, it gives viewers of the classic series a new respect for it by following it up. (Not downplaying it like with 21 JUMP STREET. ) Thus, with the right casting, writing, pacing, and production, Kimble, Gerard, and the audience follow through when the fleeing protagonist demands, "YOU FIND THAT MAN!"
