by Anonymous Logician, Copyright June 28, 2006, all rights reserved. 558 views
Since enough readers have expressed interest in my little movie reviews, I'll consider myself justified in continuing. These movies won't be particularly current or relevant (as one comedian said, you can get breaking news on any network), just whatever I feel like writing about.
I have to confess something at the outset, though. In order to watch The Sum of All Fears, I broke a cardinal rule of my religion: I saw a Ben Affleck movie. Usually I avoid his films, knowing from enough reviewers and friends that he ruins everything he touches. "But come on," I said to myself. "It's Clancy. Even Ben Affleck can't ruin a Clancy film, right?" But with Affleck all things are possible.
Clancy's story is great, and I really should read the book. Terrorists (Islamic militants in Clancy's novel, but Neo-Nazis in the more squeamish screen version) have obtained a nuclear bomb and set it off in Baltimore, hoping to provoke nuclear war between Russia and the US. CIA analyst Jack Ryan must find out what's going on and get through to the Russian president before it's too late.
But while the story holds together well, and Morgan Freeman does a good job as Ryan's boss Bill Cabot, the Affleck factor remains. Watching him is both painful and embarassing. He simply fails to draw the audience into the character, especially compared to the high standard set by Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. "You're not Jack Ryan!" I almost shouted at the screen. Too, some scenes seemed akwardly shot, which interrupted the flow of the movie.
One more disappointment was the movie's portrayal of the young, as-yet unmarried Jack and Cathy casually sleeping together. (Though I'm told that this is a Hollywood addition only.) It just doesn't seem compatible with the Jack Ryan we know from other stories. One morning Cathy even tells Jack that she thinks he's falling in love with her. Wow. Wouldn't it have been a good idea to find that out beforehand? Maybe someday Hollywood will realize that love and commitment are the building blocks of relationships, not later add-ons.