U.S. Marshals . Newcity Chicago . 03-09-98

U.S. Marshals

DIRECTED BY: Stuart Baird

REVIEWED: 03-09-98

In "U.S. Marshals," Tommy Lee Jones doggedly backtracks over the ground he covered in "The Fugitive." Jones, a gifted actor of the first rank, can't overcome a leaden script that once again has him calling for "hard-target searches" and barking out speeches eerily similar to the famous one from the first film in which he exhorted his team to check out every "farmhouse, outhouse, hen house," etc. While no one wants a sequel focusing on Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Girard's home life, the least this movie could have done was fill in a few of the personal blanks about this iron-willed, razor-sharp law-enforcement superhero and his intrepid band of manhunters. As it is, we're left to sift through an overly convoluted plot involving bad-guy-on-the-run-who-may-really-be-a-good-guy Wesley Snipes and a group of shadowy government agents who seem to be operating on both sides of the law. This film leaves one wondering if Girard has ever chased a guilty fugitive. Oh wait, there is that completely meaningless subplot concerning the team's tough take-down of two nasty escaped cons in Chicago (one played convincingly by Tony Fitzpatrick). When a "Con Air"-style plane crash later puts Snipes on the loose, these two tough characters could throw a monkey wrench into the proceedings. But no, the creeps who earlier almost creamed Girard and his crew now roll over and play dead for the guards. Sheesh. And the presumably drug-addled Robert Downey Jr. sleep-runs his way through an empty performance as a sinister Fed. Almost all of these gaffes could have been forgiven in a movie with pacing as crisp and energetic as "The Fugitive"'s. Sadly, though, "U.S. Marshals" is badly outgunned on that score as well. At least the stunts--sandwiched between meaningless scenes featuring minor characters reading in bed and the like--are top-notch.

--Frank Sennett

Full Length Reviews
U.S. Marshals
U.S. Marshals
U.S. Marshals

Capsule Reviews
U.S. Marshals

Other Films by Stuart Baird
Executive Decision

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