The Sum of All Fears - 2002

Paramount Pictures, Mace Neufeld Productions,MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson

Cast:

• Jack Ryan – Ben Affleck
• William Cabot – Morgan Freeman
• President Fowler – James Cromwell
• John Clark – Liev Schrieber
• NS Advisor Gene Revell – Bruce McGill
• President Nemerov – Ciaran Hinds
• Dr. Cathy Muller – Bridget Moynahan

Story: A young CIA analyst becomes embroiled in a conflict between the United States and Russia. Jack Ryan is the resident expert on the newly elected Russian President Nemerov, and is summoned by CIA director Cabot to provide background information. He accompanies Cabot to Moscow, and then joins him in a tour of a facility where nuclear warheads are being dismantled. Ryan's curiousity is peaked when he discovers three of the seventeen scientists who are supposed to be on duty at the facility are missing. The more he digs into this anomaly, the more he discovers, and he and his research team are the only people standing between World War Three.

Review: The fourth Tom Clancy novel to make it to the big screen, and the third actor to play Jack Ryan. This film falls short of expectations for several reasons. Since it is shot as a “prequel”of sorts to the previous films, Sum of all Fears seems somehow out of time with its predecessors. In this film, Jack Ryan is played by Ben Affleck, who is certainly no slouch in front of the camera. His portrayal of the the Clancy hero is good, and even meshes with the performance of Alec Baldwin in the first film of the series, Hunt for Red October. I guess my problem is Red October post dates Sum by a number of years, since in it Catherine and Jack are married with a daughter, yet the Soviets are still around. In Sum, Ryan and Cathy are still dating, only becoming engaged at the end of the film and the Soviet Union is long gone. From that standpoint alone, the timing is off sequence, which can make for a bit of a conflict for those of us who have read Clancy's novels, or seen the previous films. For the uninitiated, the film is terrific, and opens up the possibility of an entire new series (which was never pursued, apparently). Cromwell and Freeman are striking in their roles, as is Ciaran Hinds as the Russian President. The remaining cast, McGill, et. al., are intense when they need to be and absent when not needed. Which is the problem with a film like this, since you have so much action going on it is easy to get lost in it. Rated PG-13 for violence and language, the terrifying scene of a nuclear weapon going off in a crowded city is enough for all of us to consider whether or not to let the kids watch. Definitely not collectible, since the series was never continued and the film is out of sequence with the first three Clancy films. Rent it, don't buy it.

The Bourne Identity - 2002

Universal Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Company, The Hypnotic

Directed by Doug Liman

Cast:

• Jason Bourne – Matt Damon
• Marie Kreutz – Franka Potente
• Conklin – Chris Cooper
• The Professor – Clive Owen
• Ward Abbott – Brian Cox
• Wombosi - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
• Zorn – Gabriel Mann
• Nicolette Parsons – Julia Stiles
• Eamon – Tim Dutton

Story: Robert Ludlum's character comes to the screen in the first of three thrilling action-suspense movies. A fishing trawler off the coast of Marseilles fishes a man out of the water. They believe at first he is dead, but when he moves, the captain of the trawler brings him below decks and finds the man has two bullets in his back, and a secret code device in his thigh. When the man wakes up, he has no idea who he is. For the next several days, he works with the men in the trawler, and tries but cannot remember who he is or what he was doing in the water. When they dock, the captain gives the man the device. It leads the man to Geneva to a numbered bank account, and a safety deposit box. In the box, he finds several passports, a lot of money in various international currencies, and a gun. He discovers his name is Jason Bourne, he lives in Paris, and suddenly he is being pursued by men who want to kill him. As they attack again and again, Bourne realizes he is highly trained and skilled, but for what?

Review: Matt Damon comes off well as the celebrated Jason Bourne, and Franka Potente is marvelous as Marie. While loosely based on the character created by Robert Ludlum, The film keeps you drilled to the screen as it moves quickly from one scene to the next. Brian Cox and Chris Cooper are superb character actors and a fine addition to the film as the two CIA operatives in charge of Treadstone. Julia Stiles is particularly good in the role as “Nicki”, the operative who coordinates the “assets”. Excellent performances throughout the film are what makes this story so believable, or is it the fact we, as Americans, think our government is capable of doing this? Language and violence are the reasons for the R rating, so they little ones need to be away from the screen when you are watching. For the grownups, this is an entertaining action film with lots of “wow” moments that led Hollywood to make two more.