With all due respect to Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, and John Book, Dr. Richard Kimble is Harrison Ford’s best performance. That’s not exactly a hot take. The 1993 thriller, The Fugitive, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this week, is adored by many, and Ford’s performance is often singled out by critics, such as Roger Ebert, who noted in his review:
“Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman: dogged, determined, brave, and not demonstrative. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material, he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes.”
The Fugitive was released on August 6, 1993, to critical acclaim, with an enormous $353 million worldwide box office run, seven Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), and one win for Tommy Lee Jones as Best Supporting Actor. Not too shabby.
This was right near the end of Ford’s remarkable run that started with Star Wars in 1977 and more or less ended with Clear and Present Danger in 1994. After that, he appeared in several high-profile projects, including Sabrina, Air Force One, What Lies Beneath, more Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, and Blade Runner 2049, but none had the magic of his earlier efforts.
While based on a well-known TV series of the same name, it’s fair to assume most audience members gambled on the film based on Ford’s name alone. At the time, Tommy Lee Jones was a well-known commodity who rose to fame in films such as Coal Miner’s Daughter, JFK, and Under Siege, but he wasn’t exactly a box office draw. The Fugitive turned him into a sensation.
Keep in mind, at this point, there weren’t a lot of successful TV-to-film adaptations outside of, say, The Addams Family. The Fugitive kicked off that craze and might have directly contributed to the creation of Mission: Impossible, Maverick, and, well, all the rest. Maybe.
Ford was the main draw here, and the iconic actor delivered the goods, turning in a nuanced performance that relies more on quiet glances and physicality than over-the-top theatrics. He’s the straight man to Jones’ scene-chewing Samuel Gerard, more empathetic than magnetic, and more of a regular man caught up in extreme circumstances than a red-blooded superhero.
Kimble spends much of the film alone and doesn’t say much, forcing Ford to convey his thoughts and feelings through slight gestures and subtle expressions. During the famed dam sequence, he shouts just one line: “I didn’t kill my wife.” Gerard retorts, “I don’t care,” drawing a healthy amount of laughs from the audience. Even Kimble seems amused as Ford displays a slight grin before vanishing.
Later, Kimble is awakened by the sound of screeching tires. He looks out the window, sees a batch of patrol cars, and, fearing the worst, contemplates his options. Again, the character doesn’t utter a single line of dialogue, but Ford’s performance tells us everything we need to know and helps us feel Kimble’s panic, desperation, and eventual relief when it turns out the cops are there to pick up another man.
Check out the scene in the clip below. Oh hell, watch the whole thing and marvel at how much subtle acting Ford does in four minutes, all the while cleaning blinds and typing on a computer:
Of course, Ford gets a few key scenes, notably one set in a hospital where Kimble, disguised as a janitor, saves a young boy’s life. Kimble was a doctor before he went to jail for the murder of his wife, and well, some habits die hard.
As a side note, this scene, along with the previous moment featuring Kimble masquerading as a window blinds cleaner, hearkens back to the original series during which our falsely accused hero would take on odd jobs each week while searching for his wife’s true killer.
Director Andrew Davis also gives Ford the spotlight when Kimble calls out his best friend in front of a crowd and then proceeds to beat the holy shit out of him. Again, Ford’s physicality is on full display. He’s not quite Indiana Jones, but he’s no pushover, either. The actor finds the perfect line between an enraged husband and capable fighter, so that we never question Kimble’s abilities.
Han Solo and Indiana Jones may mark Ford’s more high-profile roles, but Richard Kimble deserves more praise than it receives. This is about as good of a quietly powerful performance as you’ll likely see, which is crazy to say about a blockbuster action thriller.
Naturally, the Academy turned up their noses and didn’t even nominate the guy. To be fair, the 1994 Oscars were jam-packed with incredible leading performances: Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List), Anthony Hopkins (Remains of the Day), Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do with It), Daniel Day-Lewis (In the Name of the Father), and winner Tom Hanks (Philadelphia). Still, I’d swap out any of those names, even Hanks, for Ford.
Then again, I’m biased. I thought The Fugitive was 1993’s best film. Yes, even over Schindler’s List. However, since it wasn’t a “prestigious” picture, the Oscars awarded it a Best Picture nomination (looking over Andrew Davis’ superb direction in the process), a handful of technical awards, and called it a day. Why should an expertly crafted action thriller not receive the same attention as a serious drama —
Of course, that’s an entirely different conversation.
I’ve watched The Fugitive well over a hundred times since its release in 1993. It remains a weekend favorite in the Ames household. Most will associate Harrison Ford with Star Wars or Indiana Jones. For me, he’ll always be Dr. Richard Kimble.