My Basic Ramblings: The movie I want to win the Oscar for Best Picture never does. Last year, I wanted Fargo to win; it was The English Patient. Year before that, Babe lost and Braveheart won. Year before that, Pulp Fiction lost and Forrest Gump won. And, year before that, The Fugitive lost and Schindler's List won. (Though you were kinda expecting that one.) This year, L.A. Confidential will probably lose to Titanic and I will give up entirely on wanting movies to win Best Picture. (Either that or I will employ reverse psychology.)
Anyway, I remember distinctly when I saw this in the theaters. Opening night. Sat in the third row 'cause the theater was so packed. The big swoopy crane shots over the Chicago streets almost made me throw up. But then Harrison Ford appeared on the screen and all the thoughts of vomiting were instantly cleared from my mind.
In case you hadn't guessed, I am a big huge honkin' Harrison Ford fan. (The Action Harrison, that is. I haven't seen any of the Sensitive Harrison pictures, except Witness.) He's so cool, so dreamy, so....dependable. (Though I do have to admit he looks a lot better without a beard, which is why I'm glad he shaved it in that hospital scene.)
Tommy Lee Jones was Al Gore's college roommate. Just thought I'd pass that information along. He won an Oscar for his role as Sam Gerard, pretty much stole the show. I love the "think me up a cup of coffee and a chocolate doughnut with some of those little sprinkles on it, will you, as long as you're thinking" scene. It will be interesting to see how U.S. Marshalls, the sequel-of-sorts to this movie, will fare. Can Wesley Snipes fill Harrison's shoes? (Answer: Don't count on it, but the movie could still be good.)
Watching this movie (recently got it on laser, in the used bin at a local store for $15.00 - someone else's loss), I became morbidly fascinated by the dent in Tommy Lee Jones's nose. It's weird - I wondered if he could store things in it, like sunflower seeds or maybe dangle paper clips off it.
The plot itself - the wonder drug and the tissue samples and the doctors double-crossing each other - is interesting, but it takes a backseat to the big honkin' stunts. The train barrelling down on Harrison brings back memories of the big boulder barrelling down on Harrison in Raiders of the Lost Ark (as has been said in many a review).
Given the choice between surrendering to a U.S. Marshall and jumping off a viaduct into really cold water to what's most likely a certain cold water and bonking your head on the side of the viaduct death, I'd pick the former. But, I'm not Harrison Ford, which is a good thing because I don't think Star Wars would've been as popular with (at the time of its initial release) a three year old girl playing Han Solo.
Can you imagine going through life with only one arm? All the things you wouldn't be able to do with only one arm? (This is assuming you didn't have a mechanical....arm. [see the interrogation scene at the start of the film to see why I used that inflection.]) You couldn't eat a banana, drive a standard transmission car, swim, touch type. You could play drums, but you'd have to get an electronic setup like Rick Allen from Def Leppard.
Look quick and you'll see Julianne Moore (from Boogie Nights and Safe and a bunch of other artsy movies) as the doctor who almost catches Harrison but all she gets is his ID card.
Anyway, Harrison Ford is dreamy and wonderful and ten times the man Clint Eastwood could ever hope to be.