The Sum of All Fears Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)June 13th, 2002
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (2002) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Liev Schreiber, Alan Bates, Philip Baker Hall, Ron Rifkin and Bruce McGill. Music by Jerry Goldsmith. Screenplay by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne. Based on the novel by Tom Clancy. Directed by Phil Alden Robinson. Rated PG-13.
Not being a reader of Tom Clancy's novels, I was not as concerned as will be some Clancy purists with the changes wrought in the transistion of The Sum of All Fears from page to screen.
In his latest cinematic outing, Jack Ryan is now a younger, more dashing individual with Ben Affleck stepping in for Harrison Ford.
Also, Ryan has been demoted. In Fears he is merely a lowly CIA analyst, has just begun dating the woman he will eventually marry and has no idea of the adventures awaiting him.
From what I have been advised from readers of Clancy's books, the plot of Sum of All Fears is basically intact, only the bad guys and some locales have been shifted.
What is missing from the film is the gravitas Ford brought to the role. While Affleck, though about 20 years younger, is as physical as Ford's Ryan, he seems to lack the intellectual weight Ford brought to his characterization.
And, perhaps, that is because Affleck is a Ryan in the embryonic stage.
Nevertheless, Affleck matures as the film progresses, helping avert Armageddon at the last possible second.
The plot of The Sum of All Fears revolves around a Ukranian neo-Nazi who has acquired the wherewithall — as well as the scientists — to create his own small nuclear device, which he plans to smuggle into the United States and detonate, hoping to start a war between Russia and the U.S.
Slowly, Ryan and his boss, CIA Director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman), put the pieces of the puzzle together. With both nations within seconds of launching nuclear strikes, it is Ryan who convinces both sides that they have been duped.
The Sum of All Fears, directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams), is an intellectual thriller. And while some of the necessary exposition drags a bit, the action and suspense sequences are first rate.
The movie does spend a little too much time showing how the nuclear device wound up in the hands of the main villain, but even those sequence hold some interest.
Affleck seems at first a bit tentative as Ryan, but he grows more comfortable as the movie progresses. It will be interesting to see if he can carry on the franchise.
Freeman adds his considerable presence as Ryan's wise, pragmatic mentor. He is the type of actor whose talent lifts whatever project in which he is involved to another level.
Among the other cast members, the underused Liev Schreiber is low-key menacing as an all-business CIA operative who handles the messy jobs needed to ferret out the truth.
The Sum of All Fears with its cliffhanger-like resolution is an exciting nail-biter. It offers bits of romance and humor, as well as the promise of an interesting future for the Clancy franchise.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette.
Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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