The Sum of All Fears Review
by John Sylva (DeWyNGaLe AT aol DOT com)June 11th, 2002
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (2002)
Reviewed by John Sylva
Leave it to a Tom Clancy adaptation to be the first massive disappointment of the summer. The Sum of All Fears could have–and should have–been one of the few summer films with a bit of intellectual weight involved, but the sum (so to speak) of its parts, both strong and weak, doesn't add up to much of anything, intellectually or otherwise. And, surprisingly, it's not just that the crux of the film, a nuclear bomb scare, seems completely trivial following September 11th, it's that everything within it feels second tier; the politics feel like rejected West Wing storylines, the characters like last year's UPS packages, and its plot like a, well...pre-9/11 B-movie, which is exactly what The Sum of All Fears becomes by its much-prolonged conclusion. The film scores points in the performance department, with Ben Affleck slipping into the role of CIA newbie Jack Ryan surprisingly well, especially considering this character was made famous by the likes of Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. Bridget Moynahan is his girlfriend Cathy–and even when it becomes her duty to participate in scenes with Affleck that, if given more screen time, could rival Natalie Portman's and Hayden Christensen's in Attack of the Clones (and if you've seen that film, you understand what end of the quality spectrum it might rival), the actress manages to shed a few glimpses of humanity to the otherwise cold picture. Faring even better are Morgan Freeman as CIA head Bill Cabot, who has one heck of a good time teasing Affleck's Ryan as the two help to uncover what seems to be a Russian nuclear bomb scheme, and, in particular, Liev Schreiber as undercover agent John Clark, whose scenes are easily the most engaging in the film.
It's nearly everywhere else that the film falters.
Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne take on the adaptation cum bastardization duties of bringing Clancy's acclaimed novel to screen, creating uninteresting and unaffecting U.S.A. all the way conflicts in which the viewer is led to believe the head honchos of the CIA are amateur enough to overlook logic and reason, rather opting to get sweet revenge on anyone who dares to mess with the red, white & blue. Similar to the retaliating against Aghani terrorists, except for, you know, good reason, government officials in Clancy's world of political intrigue are faced with the task of waging an attack on what the film just nearly stops short of subtitling "those dirty ol' Russians" after thousands of lives are lost during a nuclear explosion at the Superbowl, and the finger of blame is pointed without any (much-needed) hesitation.
It's never the least bit believable–watching Affleck's Ryan single-handedly discover that the nuke was not of the Russians in a strangely simple manner is especially befuddling–and it's never too consistent, either. Following the explosion sequence, which packs absolutely no emotional punch as the film shies completely away from the event, both during, before, and after it, director Phil Alden Robinson switches from traditional lensing to filming the action in realistic, ashy Saving Private Ryan-esque pixels, presumably for dramatic effect. But what Robinson doesn't understand, with both this artistic decision and the entire film, is that you can't substitute artificiality for realism–especially when it comes to nuclear terrorism.
GRADE: C-
Film reviewed June 10th, 2002.
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