In the past, Tom Clancy's novels have made into great films - and some of my favorites - The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger. Starting with Alec Baldwin and then progressing to Harrison Ford, Jack Ryan has always been a departure from the typical action hero. Relying on brains rather than brawn and intelligence rather than guns, Jack Ryan has always been someone to admire. Though set in present day, the film actually takes place before the three aforementioned titles as Jack Ryan is just getting to be known in the CIA.

The movie is centered around the U.S./Russian relationship as the current Russian president dies unexpectedly and a relative unknown named Nemerov takes the top spot in the Communist country. Seeking information about this new leader, CIA Director Bill Cabot (Morgan Freeman) goes to an analyst who had studied the man before his surprise rise to power - Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck). It's up to Ryan to convince the President (James Cromwell) that Nemerov (Ciarán Hinds) is not the hardliner that he appears to be and eventually, up to Ryan to avert a full-scale nuclear war. Though you might think the Russians play the ever-present "bad guy" in this film, you'd be mistaken - instead, it's a rogue group of Neo-Nazis (changed from the book - where it was a Neo-Nazi, American Indian, and an Arab - but apparently that would just perpetuate the idea that Arabs may be terrorists (note: this was changed before September 11)). These Neo-Nazis get their hands on a 1973 Israeli nuclear weapon and smuggle it into the United States to be detonated during the Super Bowl in Baltimore (yet another change from the book - should have been in Colorado). The idea, as the Neo-Nazi leader put it, is that rather than fighting America and Russia, you must make America and Russia fight each other.

The Sum of All Fears returns to the roots of Jack Ryan. Before he had unlimited support from the higher-ups, before he knew everything and could do anything. Ben Affleck plays the part to a T as he stars in what I hope is the start of a new Jack Ryan franchise. Though the movie strays far from the book, placing Jack Ryan as an upstart analyst, rather than the president of the United States, it's good to see Jack Ryan getting his start, and hopefully, in future films, we'll see him progress further.

Next to Affleck, the supporting cast does an amazing job, as the film doesn't center on Jack Ryan throughout the film. Cromwell as the President and Freeman as the CIA Director both turn in terrific performances. Also, supporting the film is Liev Schreiber as John Clark, an undercover CIA agent performing black ops missions for the government.

When you combine the parallell storylines along with the ever-present Jack Ryan action, you're bound to end up with an entertaining film. Compounding that with a great basis for the script by Tom Clancy, and you're left with a film that, while not flawless, is able to entertain, despite being somewhat eerie in these times following 9/11.

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller
Rated: PG-13 - For violence, disaster images and brief strong language.
Runtime: 118 minutes
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