Movie #217 - The Fugitive

The Fugitive
1994 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 10 min
Director: Andrew Davis
Starring: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Julianne Moore, Joe Pantoliano, Jane Lynch

Another classic film for the letter F and a fan favorite, too.  Harrison Ford vs. Tommy Lee Jones.  Can Ford find his wife's real killer and prove to Jones that he didn't murder her?  Will Jones even care? This wild chase across Chicago is fun to watch and definitely sucks you into the compelling storyline.  Ford's character is the kind of wronged good-guy you cheer for.  And, as we discovered, he's the perfect fugitive: quick and nimble with a medical degree.  He runs quick, thinks quick, and can fix his own wounds. Perfect.

There are some great cameos in here as well.  Julianne Moore as a doctor who spots him in the hospital.  Jane Lynch as a former colleague of his.  And Neil Flynn (Janitor on Scrubs) who plays a Transit Cop, has one line, then gets shot and killed on the train.  Good stuff.

Movie #56 - Batman Forever

Batman Forever
Warner Bros. Pictures
1995 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 1 min
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell
New Batman, new director, new look... kinda. These films are still a dark interpretation of the comic series, without being 100% comic. Some of the modern hero movies / graphic novel movies seem straight off the page, a really interesting and aesthetic approach. The Batman movies seem to get lost in the pages... maybe that's my problem with these earlier movies.

Anyway, Val Kilmer is not as gritty a Batman as Michael Keaton (or Christian Bale for that matter) but he plays the suave Bruce Wayne pretty well. Is it intentional that the Harvey Dent that was Lando Calrissian in the first movie is now Tommy Lee Jones? Or are we okay with it because there's a new Batman? Whatever.

Anyway, Jim Carrey is just... weird. Not sure why he's in this movie. Jones is pretty gross looking and definitely has split personality issues, but that's to be expected. I hear being drenched in acid can make you go nuts, so I'm not going to judge him for that. And if he wants to have a girlfriend for each side of his face, more power too him.

The one thing that really does bother me about this movie is Nicole Kidman's character Chase Meridian. She's supposed to be this big, smart psychologist who wants to study Batman's psyche and diagnose his inner pain. She makes all these comments about how he probably has a troubled past. Then she talks to Bruce Wayne about his troubled past. Somehow, she can't connect the dots. I wanted to shake her a couple of times.

Otherwise, this movie wasn't terrible...