The Fugitive,
What a belter! Classic 80s action/ thriller brilliantly executed. Right from the single-coloured block letters of the opening credits that date the film around the same time as Bruce Willis' Moonlighting series.
It had everything from a one-armed baddie to a precision-grown beard from Harrison Ford, all the while show-casing Chicago as a city of intrigue and beauty. But, it's one small moment that struck me out of the whole film that I wanted to write about and it was a section after a shoot-out hostage situation that left Tommy Lee-Jones' colleague temporarily deaf in one ear. It went something like this:
TLJ
You think I should've tried to talk him down...
AGENT
Yeah. I do. We could've taken him in. You could've missed and killed me.
TLJ
Bargained with him?
AGENT
Yeah - I can't hear anything at all. Could be permanent.
TLJ
You can't hear anything?
AGENT
Yeah. This ear. Nothing.
TLJ
Come here, lemme see. This ear?
AGENT
Yeah
TLJ (Leaning in)
I. Don't. Bargain.
Did you hear that?
AGENT
Yeah. Yeah. I heard that.
So we learn something about Tommy's character but what I loved about it was the delivery. He made the less obvious choice as an actor - opting to whisper those three telling words rather than blaring them at the young agent. He did the exact same thing when Harrison Ford catches him unarmed in the storm drain earlier on.
HARRISON FORD
I didn't kill my wife!
TLJ
I don't care
Here's the storm drain scene: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ11Ws3tqP0
(And why not? That report for your boss can wait 40 seconds!)
He chose to give him personality not bravado. And that goes so much further when watching it back. It's these more daring choices that make the actor which we all strive for and it's this that today is dedicated to: the less obvious choice. I'm not saying 'The Fugitive' is a masterpiece (although it is) or that Tommy Lee-Jones is a diversely capable actor but these moments struck a chord with me and stayed with me a day later. Anyway, I'm off to work with a casting director this afternoon ahead of putting an audition on tape for The States and I'll keep be keeping this at the back of my mind.
Final thought: Not all people with prosthetic limbs are murderers. Oh and not all men with big beards are innocent.
