Tom Clancy’s first words in the DVD commentary of The Sum of All Fears, after director Phil Alden Robinson introduces him, are “I wrote the book they ignored.” Yeah, pretty much. It’s pretty obvious this film was made without Clancy involved, and as he picks apart many of the technical details in the film as it progresses, he’s clearly at least a little peeved about it.
I’m not a big Clancy fan, though, so that’s fine with me. I did like the two previous Clancy films, though, particularly Patriot Games, and it took a bit of a shift to understand that the Jack Ryan of the first three Clancy movies is really not the same Jack Ryan of the new one. Same name, but different guy. OK… took a bit, but I got it.
Once I got it, I had to admire the effort they went through to completely overhaul the story and the character, and really, it’s a pretty good film. I don’t think it’s the book Clancy wrote, or really, the story he intended to tell, but it’s a good story, and well-made.
Most impressive to me was how rarely the film depended on chiched techniques to carry the story along. The big scene in the middle,
in which the nuclear bomb is exploded at a Baltimore sports stadium,
was really surprisingly tasteful, and takes place at a moment when I didn’t expect it. I was genuinely shocking to both my wife and I (my wife let out a little shriek when it happened). The following scenes are effectively stark, and mark a real turning point in the film, visually and thematically.
The scene that follows shortly afterwards,
in which Russian jets attack and disable an American carrier,
is damn near a masterpiece. The mistake I feel most directors make is to draw those scenes out, making them too long (probably a result of wanting to use every last effects shot that the producers paid for). This scene is fast, so fast that its over almost before it really starts. It starts quickly and ends more quickly. It struck me as being very real.
Everything that follows is moderately predictable, though I liked certain angles. I liked the fact that the Arabs only play a minor role in the terrorist act, that the responsibility for it lies with a neo-Nazi organization (though Clancy also pointed out a valid flaw with that idea). I liked the way that the Russian and American presidents’ action were shown in parallel, and how very similar the processes they go through likely are. I loved the use of opera as the music in the beginning and end of the film; an excellent bookending mechanism.
And I really enjoyed seeing the always-talented Philip Alden Robinson at work again. One of my favorite films of all time is Sneakers. Sum of All Fears is a more serious movie than that one, and it’s certainly more challenging than Field of Dreams (which I also like). But it was good to see him apply his talents of character development and plotting to what might have been a fairly standard action-thriller. He added some dimension, and some nice surprises to it.
As for acting… though I liked him in Changing Lanes and other movies, it was hard to buy Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan, even a younger one. I didn’t feel that he really pulled it off for me. On the other hand, it was great to see Liev Schreiber in a pretty good role, and always nice to see Morgan Freeman play anything, even if it is a character that we’ve already seen die once. Seriously, pretty much everyone worked well except for Affleck.
I lost count of the times Clancy said “That part was crap, y’know,” during the commentary, and really I have little reason to doubt that much of it is. However, it was an effective film; timely and well-made. For a thriller (generally light fare for me), I enjoyed it. I think I still like Sneakers more in general, but really, they’re different sorts of films, and have little basis for a real comparison. Sum of All Fears was good in its own right, even it is a departure for its director and really only thinly related to the novel it is based on.
Other thoughts?