Before Watching the Movie:
A movie based on a television series based on a landmark murder trial. To add to the complexity, this film inspired a prequel, and probably had more to do with the remake series than the first tv show did.
In this movie, Harrison Ford runs. Also he proves his own innocence, because nobody else can, apparently. But anything can sound dull if condensed to its base points. I expect an enjoyable thriller.
During/After watching the movie:
Cardiologist Dr. Richard Kimball arrives home from surgery to find his wife murdered by an elusive one-armed man. With no readily available evidence, the police instead convict him of the murder. A chance bus accident on the way to death row affords him escape, which he uses to try to prove his innocence and find the real killer, directly under the nose of Deputy Marshall Samuel Gerard, who is coming to suspect that Kimball may not be guilty after all.
As soon as Tommy Lee Jones enters the story, it’s plain to see why he and his team got a spun-off prequel. Gerard is dogged in his pursuit of his escaped convicts and doesn’t care who he steps on to get to them. Harrison Ford spends much of the movie alone and carries that such that I don’t have any complaints.
The storytelling is well-handled, and the editing is crisp and thorough. The pacing is satisfying and breathtaking. Something is happening constantly, and that something is usually a piece of the puzzle. Having also seen a very poor example of exposition in a film today, I have a heightened appreciation of when a story works.
Watch this movie: and see an imagined vindication of a real innocent man.
Don’t watch this movie: for bonecrushing action. It’s built on tension.
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