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Studio:
Plot:
European neo-Nazi terrorists acquire a nuclear device and plan to use it at the Super Bowl, blaming the attack on Russia in the hopes of rekindling the Cold War. |
Cast:
Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Bridget Moynahan, Liev Schreiber, Alan Bates |
Rating:
Bottom Line:
Coverage:
Its no secret that neo-Nazi terrorist nuke Baltimore in Tom Clancys political thriller "The Sum of All Fears" a disturbing film, starring Ben Affleck as Clancy's Jack Ryan, a role made famous by Harrison Ford.
So American filmgoers might twist and squirm in their seats as many parts of the film hits too close to home.
Director Phil Alden Robinson says the film, which follows the book pretty close, was completed pre-911, which gives the story a surreal feel especially when Morgan Freeman, who plays the director of the CIA, says hes not worried about the Russians having thousands of nuclear warheads. Hes worried about the man who just has one.
In this installment, terrorists hoping to rekindle the Cold War, acquire a nuclear device and plan to detonate it at the Super Bowl, so the Americans will blame Russians.
Although "The Sum of All Fears" is an excellent seat-of-your-pants thriller, Jack Ryan series fans might be bothered by the films glaring inconsistencies thanks to Clancys unhappiness with the casting of Harrison Ford in the previous two films "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger."
Clancy wanted Ryan to be portrayed by a much younger man. So enter twenty-something Affleck, and exit fifty-something Ford along with an established storyline of Ryans wife, two kids and his job as director of the CIA.
The new Jack Ryan is single and he's worried about telling his girlfriend that hes a CIA analyst when Freeman asks him to accompany him to Russia on a nuclear disarmament inspection. During the inspection Ryan discovers that three of Russia's top scientists have been recruited by the Nazis to activate a nuclear bomb which was lost by an Israeli jet fighter during Israel's Six Day War with Egypt and Syria in 1967.
Although the films acts of terrorism might be more unsettling than they would have been a year ago, the end of the film is somewhat reassuring if not comforting at how American and Russian covert agencies deal with high-profile terrorist.
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