Three Fugitives Reviews

Cutesy Hollywood remake of a French film, a la THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOE, THREE MEN AND A BABY, and COUSINS. What distinguishes THREE FUGITIVES from these is that its director, Francois Veber, was also the man in charge on the original, LES FUGITIFS. The French film starred Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard in the roles taken here by Nick Nolte and Martin Short. Paroled from prison after serving a five-year sentence for armed robbery, Daniel Lucas (Nolte) is in the wrong place at the wrong time when Ned Perry (Short), the unemployed father of a traumatized little girl (Doroff), holds up a bank to get money to send his daughter to a special school. Ned takes Daniel hostage when the robbery goes badly, but the cops are convinced that Daniel is in on the job, forcing the ex-con, Short, and Doroff to go the lamb. This obvious attempt to tap into the same audience that flocked to THREE MEN AND A BABY (indeed, it could have been titled "Two Men and a Toddler") is about as lifeless as they come. Not only is THREE FUGITIVES a scene-for-scene remake of Veber's French original, it is actually shot for shot the same film. Not surprisingly, the resulting films feels mechanical, despite engaging performances from Short and Nolte.