Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes Directed by Stuart Baird Rated PG-13, with violence and profanity Running time 132 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 7 out of 10

(March 6, 1997) -- Ah, what an Oscar can do. As Tommy Lee Jones has discovered, a winning performance can turn an antagonist into a protagonist. From the 1993 smash hit The Fugitive to the new U.S. Marshals, Jones' character has become the hero.

Of course, even in The Fugitive, when he was chasing the innocent and much-abused Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford), Marshal Sam Gerard was hard to dislike. He was so obsessively determined, so droll, so righteous and so in love with donuts -- what's not to like?

Now the fox is back, pursuing a different rabbit in a brand-new chase. With the title U.S. Marshals, the emphasis is cleverly placed on Gerard and his likable fellow officers, played once again by Daniel Roebuck, Tom Wood and the wonderful Joe Pantoliano.

The squad is enlarged by two this time -- an additional marshal (Latanya Richardson) and a federal government agent assigned from another department specifically for this pursuit.

He's John Royce (Robert Downey Jr.), and his speciality is espionage. Royce joins the chase because the escaped prisoner this time is a former special-forces Marine and ex-CIA operative named Sheridan (Wesley Snipes), who has been tied to the shooting deaths of two other government agents.

At first, director Stuart Baird (of Executive Decision) and his writers seem content to emulate the popular original film. Once again Gerard and company are pursuing a prisoner who has escaped while being transported. The hunt began in the first film with a spectacular train wreck; this time, it's an equally spectacular plane crash.

Kimble dove from high above a dammed-up waterfall; Sheridan grabs a rope and swings from the roof of a high-rise onto a moving train. (That sequence, by the way, highlights the current trailer for the film -- another example of previews that give away too much about their movies.)

But just when it seems U.S. Marshals is nothing more than Fugitive Redux, the film surprisingly shifts into the world of spies, turncoats, assassins and Chinese-American relations.

In Act 2, U.S. Marshals becomes more original, although a bit predictable. (I saw one major twist coming an hour before it arrived on screen.)

Still, Sam Gerard is a marvelous, meaty character, and Tommy Lee Jones owns him. Wesley Snipes is charismatic as the pursued man, though I wish the script gave Sheridan more background and depth to make him a bit more sympathetic.

Robert Downey Jr. is less successful as Royce. The character should waver between charm and irritability; Downey seems to strike only the latter note. (Perhaps he was distracted by his many drug-related legal problems, which have since landed him in jail.)

Among supporting players, the always-intriguing Kate Nelligan (Without a Trace, The Prince of Tides) is powerful as Gerard's supervisor, while Swiss star Irene Jacob is largely wasted as Sheridan's girlfriend.

U.S. Marshals is no Fugitive, but neither is it a disappointing evening at the movies.