Written by Tom Clancy, Paul Attanasio, and Daniel Pyne
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson

After two successful adaptations of Tom Clancy’s novels featuring Harrison Ford as the character of Jack Ryan, everything went back to the drawing board for The Sum of All Fears. Depending on who you talk to Ford either didn’t like the script or was tired of the character. For whatever the reason, he chose to bow out. When Ben Affleck made his interest known in portraying the character, the script was revised, having the events happen much earlier in Ryan’s career. This is somewhat disconcerting, as the events take place in the present day of the time (pre-9/11 2001 – the movie was released in 2002) but the character is now much younger than he was in the earlier films, as well as not yet being married or having a family. In fact, Jack has just met his future wife at the beginning of The Sum of All Fears.

In some ways, it’s quite ironic that this was scripted and filmed before 9/11. If you have been anywhere except under a rock for the past seven years or so, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, government officials have expressed a fear of a terrorist or rogue nation getting their hands on a nuclear bomb and exploding it in or near a major U.S. City. The plot of The Sum of All Fears follows the political path of how something like this could occur. Starting in the early 1970’s, it shows how a misplaced Israeli nuclear weapon finds its way onto the black market in the current day.

The plot is one of political intrigue as events take place in Russia which puts someone who is fairly unknown in the office of President. There is already tension between the U.S. and Russia over the Russian treatment of Chechneya. Jack Ryan, a low-level CIA analyst at the time, happens to have written a paper on the newly-appointed Russian President, and is brought into the fold in figuring out how to deal with the man.

This brings Ryan central to the plot that involves the dirty bomb smuggled into Baltimore in a cigarette machine and due to be detonated at the Superbowl where the President is expected to be in attendance. Can Ryan save the President? And can he save the world when the factions at work trying to manipulate events have Russian jets attack a U.S. Aircraft Carrier?

To be fair, I liked Affleck in the role, but I had trouble getting past the continuity issues of these events taking place in the present day while events in previous films took place during the Cold War and our involvement with strikes in South America during the “War on Drugs”. It’s not Affleck’s fault that this takes away some from the movie. It would have been better if the setting of The Sum of All Fears was prior to the other films. In fact, in some ways the tension of the Cold War would have made circumstances much more interesting, similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even having the events happen in the mid to early 1980s would have been beneficial.

However, if you can take The Sum of All Fears on its own and not look at it as part of the series, it’s quite good. The action and suspense are virtually non-stop as the tension is ratcheted up right from the beginning. Affleck is very good as an analyst who mans the CIA’s Russian desk and who is far more intelligent than the position warrants. He has the right intensity and earnestness, but at the same time, he has a youthful naivete that’s perfect. He falls under the wing of Director William Cabot (portrayed by Morgan Freeman) and the warmth between the two is completely believable. It’s as if Cabot can see the potential in Ryan – something there that others don’t grasp right away. The two actors play off each other nicely, as the one acts as a mentor to the younger one. Instead of Ryan being a hot-headed know-it-all who’s going to set them right (which is the fault in many of these films), he has to play by rules he might not like all the time, and does it well.

Liev Schreiber is terrific here as well, with a supporting role as a reluctant agent who’s not the stereotypical gung-ho character shown in many of these thrillers. As John Clark, he knows what he has to do and does it, even if he doesn’t always like it. I think his character is written better than many other films where we get people who mow down other human beings with nary a tweak of conscience.

Another terrific casting decision was James Cromwell as the President. He’s had such an amazing run of characters. Tom Clancy reminded me in the commentary that he was “Stretch Cunningham”, Archie Bunker’s pal on All In The Family. The experience with his roles serves him well as he seems knowledgeable enough to be President, but yet more like an ordinary man put in these circumstances. It helps to humanize the character, rather than have him be just a figurehead.

Kudos also goes to Ciaran Hinds, the Irish actor who portrays Russian President Nemerov. He knew no Russian when he took the part, and learned it for the role, amazing event he production staff. He also manages to make the President into a human being who knows what’s at stake no matter which way he chooses to act. The unknown factor works well with the unknown commodity of his acting as well, and it helps him with the character.

The special effects are terrific. There isn’t a tremendous amount of them, but what’s here has a very realistic feel to it. Thinking about what a dirty bomb going off would look like is sobering, as is an attack on an aircraft carrier.

The DVD contains a good number of extras, including two different commentaries. For anyone who thinks plot points aren’t authentic, listen to the commentary with Director Phil Alden Robinson and Tom Clancy, and you’ll realize how much care he took to investigate the feasibility of what would happen. I’m not saying there isn’t some suspension of disbelief, but he didn’t just write the novel and consult on the script expecting the audience to buy everything he puts out there hook, line, and sinker. He took the time to write to the facts, rather than bending the facts to his story.

The Sum of All Fears is a great action thriller, filled with suspense. I like Affleck as Jack Ryan, and it’s a shame more films with this character haven’t been made since. I think continuing the character with Affleck would have worked, despite my misgivings and issues with continuity. As it is, this is a film that can make you pause and look at the world around you a bit differently, especially if you live around a major city. Perhaps the real danger isn’t coming from where we expect it to.



SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Commentary by Director Phil Alden Robinson and Cinematographer John Lindley
• Commentary by Director Phil Alden Robinson and Novelist Tom Clancy
• A Cautionary Tale
• Visual Effects
• Theatrical Trailer