Thread by @whoiswillo

So, I want to take a few minutes to talk about one of my favorite movies, THE FUGITIVE, and what makes it so great. I understand the movie is generally well regarded, but I think we underestimate just how good this movie is, and I hope in some small way to rectify that. 1/15

First and foremost the movie is brilliantly structured. Almost every single scene of the movie is Kimble trying to evade capture AND solve his wife's murder. In almost every single sequence in the movie where Kimble spends significant time, there is a police officer present. 2/15

There are officers in both the hospitals he visits. He hears a siren in the distance when crossing the street. Even when he's getting money from Dr. Charles Nichols, at the end of the conversation a police officer flashes his lights and run his siren. Police are always close 3/15

This is a brilliant, subtle way of adding obstacles to the protagonists journey. They of course add other complications along the way but almost all come directly from the environment and situation Kimble is in. They never feel forced or coincidental. 4/15

On the flip side, almost every scene with Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard is explicitly about finding Kimble and bringing him to jail. A lesser movie would have made Gerard evil or obsessive, but Gerard is neither (despite being based on Javert from Les Miserables). 5/15

What's more, he and his team are extremely good at their job. They don't miss Kimble because they make mistakes. They follow every clue and even when Gerard is wrong (the elevated train) he knows how to find out the information that will help them most in the situation. 6/15

Gerard doesn't fail to capture Kimble because of incompetence or indifference. But he's also not obsessed or evil. He's just a man who is very good at his job, who is forced to be in a position where he is reactive and not proactive, and therefore cannot get the drop on him. 7/15

In fact, the movie is constantly reminding us how Gerard and his team are extremely competent. They are constantly the people who know what happened first, they aren't cutting corners and are always checking all the facts. This has two effects, both of which help the movie. 8/15

The first is that it makes Kimble more impressive. He's one man, and he's able to outsmart and stay one step ahead of an entire team of intelligent, dedicated people who are focused on trying to track him down. It reinforces how smart Kimble is scene after scene after scene. 9/15

The second is it makes the third act of the movie work. When they are close, these are the last people Kimble wants chasing him, but because the only way to catch Kimble is to solve his wife's murder, these dedicated public servants have to start investigating that as well. 10/15

While Gerard tells Kimble he doesn't care that he didn't kill his wife, Kimble forces him to care, at least a little. Piece by piece. And they solve the mystery together, because eventually Kimble realizes that he's going to need someone in the government on his side. 11/15

Those scenes of banter between Gerard, Renfro, Biggs, Newman, Poole, Henry and Stevens? That reinforces that these are people working a job, people who get hungry for donuts at 7 a.m. People who wonder what words like "hinky" mean. 12/15

Also note that we never see the Gerard when he's not working--and he doesn't always have the same set of coworkers around him. He's dedicated, but he's also not bringing the work home with him. He's not having revelations at three in the morning. He's not obsessive. 13/15

I could go on about this for hours, but this structure I think is the key to the movie's success. Every scene builds to the next, all the clues are found logically and the characters' actions all make sense, even in hindsight. It's an exceptionally well built movie 14/15

I will now take your questions. 15/15