| 27,000 Nuclear Weapons. One is Missing. THE SUM OF ALL FEARS Director: Phil Alden Robinson Producer: Mace Neufield Screenplay: Akiva Goldsman, Paul Attanasio & Daniel Pyne UK Release Date: 16/10/2002 Certificate: 12 Official Website |
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| The Sum of all Fears is CIA analyst Jack Ryan's fourth cinematic outing. Based on the books by Tom Clancy, he was portrayed by Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Alec Baldwin played the part in the earlier The Hunt for Red October. Harrison Ford disliked the script for The Sum of All Fears, and dislikes Tom Clancy even more, so the part this time went to Ben Affleck. The continuity with the other movies might not fit, but that's not really the point. Ryan here is young, pre-marriage and not the CIA big wig from the other movies, but it's set very much in the immediate present. Frighteningly so, in fact. In the aftermath of September 11th and during the ongoing War on Terror, this is a brave and powerful movie. Ryan has done a thesis on the man who becomes the new Russian President, and becomes embroiled in an investigation into three missing Russian scientists and a nuclear bomb that has apparantly been smuggled into the USA, an event which is in danger of sparking a nuclear war. What is refreshing about this film is that there is no ridiculous "God Bless America-ing". The one brief moment of flag-waving patriotism foreshadows an event that jolts you onto the edge of seat. The Americans, led by James Cromwell's President, are shown to be as 'bad', if not worse than their Russian counterparts. The great Morgan Freeman plays CIA Director Cabin. Affleck is adequate as Jack Ryan. He doesn't have Harrison's charisma, but he doesn't detract from a great, must-see movie. A thriller which more than lives up to the name Just don't let anyone tell you about it first. 9/10. |
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