Numerous people in the history of the film industry are overrated. Several ones are underrated, and then there's a small group of people that are massively, scandalously, and incomprehensibly underrated! In this last group sits writer/director Michael Crichton, although - admittedly - he would remain underrated even if he received a dozen of Oscars and a life-size statue on Hollywood Boulevard. That's how genius he was.
With "Pursuit" Crichton dropped off his calling card as a director. Two of his novels were previously adapted already, namely the stupendous "The Andromeda Strain" and the quirky "The Carey Treatment", but here Crichton decided to turn his own novel (written under a pseudonym name) into a film scenario and direct it himself. Being a modestly produced, short, and mainly dialogue-driven TV-movie, "Pursuit" was also the ideal rehearsal for Crichton's bigger and more legendary works "Westworld", "Coma", and "The First Great Train Robbery".
What anyone should admire about Michael Crichton is how his stories seem grotesque and unlikely to happen at first, but they are nevertheless brought in such a disturbingly realistic fashion that gradually the viewer gets persuaded that the top-event is inevitable from happening. The top-event can refer to robot-gunslingers in theme park turning against the human visitors, genetically engineered dinosaurs breaking out, or - in this case - one politically engaged psychopath being able to steal nerve gas from the government and conspire a large-scaled attack against the President and an entire city of innocent bystanders.
From the very first second and throughout the entire 75 minutes of running time, "Pursuit" is a tense edge-of-your-seat thriller with a stressful atmosphere and great performances of both Ben Gazzara and E. G. Marshal. Via the simple yet effective trick of occasionally showing a countdown-clock at the bottom of the screen, Crichton makes clear how urgent it's getting for CIA bulldog Steve Graves to apprehend the mysterious James Wright and figure out his terrorist scheme. A few little defaults here and there (like an ungracious exit for the lead villain) but mostly good stuff.
