ĪU.S. Marshalsā fast, furious and fun

By Dave Flomberg
The Metropolitan

Tommy Lee Jones is back in possibly the most fitting role of his career.

U.S. Marshals, the sequel to the 1993 blockbuster The Fugitive, succumbs to none of the problems and obstacles that usually plague sequels.

Instead, this flick combines all the best elements of the first ÷ thrilling action, interesting characters and witty dialogue ÷ with a new formula ÷ political intrigue, more humor and a more challenging nemesis.

This movie is taken from the point of view of Lt. Samuel Gerard (Jones), as he is thrown onto the trail of escaped assassin Mark Sheridan (Wesley Snipes). The chase begins in the swamps of the Ohio River after a plane crash and bounces from Chicago into New York.

Sheridan is an ex CIA black-ops agent, a ćkiteä that has no official federal strings. He is wanted for the murders of two other agents in New York but maintains his innocence and refuses to be caught until he can expose whoever framed him.

A welcome addition to the entertaining crew of deputies this time around is Diplomatic Security Service agent John Royce, played by Robert Downey Jr.

He was friends with the two murdered agents and volunteered to help bring the killer to justice. The deputies donāt trust him at first, and his character is kept as ambiguous as possible until the last moment.


The action throughout the film is heated, bordering on intense. Some of the stunts are unbelievable, and the plane wreck is really loud. But none of this is new to the story that garnered Jones an Oscar.

What is new is the vagueness of who are the good and bad guys. While the answer is fairly predictable, the story does a good job of keeping the audience on the fence as the plot develops.

Snipes is an action movie dynamo ÷ a physical young buck who can actually act. One of Spike Leeās favorite go-to guys, he has worked his way onto producer Arnold Kopelsonās A list with this and his last movie, Murder at 1600.

His only downfall is his inability to be unlikeable, which doesnāt make too much difference in this film.
And then thereās the deputies.

Fronted by deputy marshal Cosmo Renfro (Joe Pantoliano), the banter and bickering of the group helps to usher the plot through its paces. In The Fugitive, they were a sidenote. Here, they are an intricate part of the plot, which should be revisited should another installment be produced.

Jerry Goldsmith turns in an exceptional composition this go around. Heās handled the scores of nearly 150 movies including L.A. Confidential and Two Days in the Valley. His music underscores and aptly accents whatās happening on screen.

Warner Bros. has walked itself into another top-grosser with this effort, by illustrating the old adage; ćIf this movie is really good, then we should make another one with the same characters and a somewhat different script and see if we can make a lot of money and win some Oscars.ä