The Sum of All Fears
Starring Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
PG-13

*** out of 4 Stars

Released May 31, 2002

Running time: 124 minutes

***

by Kevin Lang

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams, Sneakers) and starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman, "The Sum of All Fears" is the latest political thriller to make its way from the pages of a Tom Clancy novel. The film introduced a younger Dr. Jack Ryan (Affleck) who had previously appeared in three of Clancy's other novels turned into major studio releases, "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), "Patriot Games" (1992), and "Clear and Present Danger" (1994). The latter two featured Harrison Ford in the role of Jack Ryan, and in the first Alec Baldwin played the heroic CIA agent.

In this film we found Dr. Ryan hunting down the unknown possessors of a missing nuclear bomb. The film began with Dr. Ryan supposedly working at a desk job where he was responsible for putting together reports on certain key Russian political figures. We never actually saw him doing much work. We only heard him arguing with one of his coworkers over the identity of one of the Russians who they saw on TV. Then again, why bore us with paperwork? I wanted action and excitement to find Ryan as quickly as possible. Due to his research into certain Russian political figures, Dr. Ryan was brought in by Bill Cabot (Morgan Freeman) to offer insight into the character of these individuals. This marked the beginning of his rise in the CIA, as he quickly became involved in weapons inspections and covert missions to track down the missing bomb.

This was where the film seemed to lose some of its realism, and turn more into a 007 type movie with Ryan as a toned down rusty skilled James Bond. Why would the government have one man who was skilled in research work be part of a secret mission to investigate a bomb-making workshop? I just hope that our real government uses individuals who are better trained to do such work, and especially not Ben Affleck.

There was a single moment where "The Sum of All Fears" seemed to literally come alive. It was as if it almost jumped from two and a half to three stars in one scene. It came as such a surprise that it made us gasp in awe and shock at what we were seeing. It carried more of an impact because of September 11, and I'm still not sure how comfortable I am with seeing it occur so realistically on the big screen. However, fiction is fiction, and hopefully it will act as a wake up call to those who believe that it could never happen.

The movie ended very quickly. After Jack Ryan convinced the two nuclear superpowers to stand down from going to war with each other, we were supposed to feel satisfied that the conflict was over and that the happy ending had arrived. However, even though in the film the terrorists were taken out in the resolution, I still didn't feel that it was time to celebrate a victory for Jack Ryan. At the end we saw him and his girlfriend, Dr. Cathy Muller, played by Bridget Moynahan (Coyote Ugly) having a picnic on a lawn near the Capital as they listened to the president giving a motivational speech in the background. What about Bill Cabot's funeral? What about helping and mourning the thousands upon thousands of people who had to have died in the terrorist act? What about showing a nation coming together, donating blood, etc? What about conveying the obvious fact that when something of that magnitude happens to a country, not just one hero emerges, but rather many heroes emerge.

"The Sum of All Fears" is a movie based on fiction, and this becomes more obvious as the story unfolds. Hollywood even crept its way into the picture by making the U.S. President seem overly incompetent. He only seems to do what people suggest to him, and he never stands firm as a leader. In some cases this may be true in real life, but it was quietly done to such an extreme extent in this film that it seemed absurd. Yet again, it is a movie made by politically oriented individuals, and it often seems hard for these individuals not to slant elements of the plot to the left or to the right.

Jack Ryan exists between the pages of a novel. He is no more real than Superman or Rambo. His feats aren't as impossible, but in the end he is still the hero emerging from a clearly fictional world. "The Sum of All Fears" was a movie not without flaws, but it was also a stirring political thriller that was enjoyable to watch. Ben Affleck was believable as Ryan, and Morgan Freeman gave a commendable performance as usual. They worked well together onscreen, providing humor in the right places, and leaving us mostly satisfied in the end.