Sam Gerard in The Fugitive is a U.S. Marshal on a mission. Inspired by Inspector Javert from Les Miserables, he spends his time chasing Richard Kimble, a man we know to be wrongly convicted. It makes for compelling viewing, watching two good guys duke it out.
And not for nothing, pitting Tommy Lee Jones against Harrison Ford was pure marketing genius.
While Kimble has the harder job of eluding the fuzz and coming up with exonerating evidence, he also only has himself to answer to. Gerard, on the other hand, leads a team of investigators who run the gamut from seasoned and no-nonsense to fairly young and impressionable. He is every inch the authoritative hardass manager.
Gerard offers us our first management lesson in his first appearance on screen: (Watch to 1:27)
Valuable tip: If you have a weakness, such as an inability to remember names, make sure your subordinates' skill sets compensate for it. Now, watch how he handles this confrontation: (Watch to 3:54)
As I said yesterday, there are very few times I recommend calling someone out in public. But if you have to do it, this is a brilliant approach. Be deferential, don't raise your voice, call the guy "sir." Give your antagonist plenty of rope to hang himself ... and then? Give him a little spin by the toe just for good measure.
Gerard also sticks to his convictions -- perhaps to the point of folly. (Watch to the end.)
Gerard saves the guy's life, and then has to justify his actions to the guy. In so doing, he manages to be a hardass while also being sympathetic to an alternate point of view, which is no mean feat. I've long wondered if there's an alternate version of that scene that has him also whisper, "And. I. Don't. Miss."
But if you are going to be this rigid in your code, you have to accept the fact that those who work for you are not always going to fall right in line. (Watch to 8:04)
Much as I sympathize with Gerard's dyspepsia on words that aren't real words, I have to confess that I'd probably react much the way Biggs does here. And I'm not sure I'd do it under my breath. Maybe, though. It is Tommy Lee Jones, after all. Carrying a firearm. And it doesn't get much more authoritative than that.
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