The Sum
of All Fears
Dan
Sum of All Fears was supposed to be great movie that was released too soon.
The subject matter wasn't troubling and it wasn't that great a movie. After
almost of year of attacks against America and threats of nuclear war in Kashmir,
a fictional bomb seems fairly run of the mill.
Ben Affleck has become a big time movie star but doesn't have Arnold's muscles,
Bruce's smirk or Mel's eyes. In Pearl, Armageddon and now Sum
of All Fears he seems to just float through the movie on his looks. Affleck's
problem seems only to come from big movies.
I haven't read the book but I suspect its great. Jack Ryan generally doesn't
single handedly save the world like he does here. Also the girlfriend was annoying
in her perfection. I know that Cathy Ryan is this perfect in the books but nonetheless,
it's irritating.
I did like one aspect of the movie, James Cromwell and his cabinet. The men
in the cabinet and the national security apparatus are near panic after the
bomb explodes. I especially noted to scene when the President boards Air Force
One while calming a panicked senior advisor. A year ago I can imagine our top
leaders having the same natural human reaction. Post 9/11, I suspect they're
all out of panic.
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Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004 Dan Dodson
