Movie Review: The Sum of All Fears

The Sum of All Fears

The Sum of All Fears is based on a Tom Clancy novel by the same name, one in a series of novels featuring a CIA analyst by the name of Jack Ryan. Previously played in three other Tom Clancy novel-based movies by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, the title role in this film is taken by Ben Affleck. Starring with Affleck are Morgan Freeman as his CIA Director boss, and James Cromwell as the President of the United States.

The basic plot of both the book and the movie is this: terrorists get their hands on a nuclear weapon, which they smuggle into the United States where they proceed to blow it up. Because of the focus on terrorists, especially on nuclear terror which has been mentioned of late, some critics have expressed their opinion that the movie should not have been released now, that people would find it too frightening. Others have suggested that the public isn't emotionally "ready" after the horrors of 9/11. I even heard one critic huffing that the last thing Americans needed to see was a president in danger.

In a discussion on Fox TV late Saturday night (I was up bottle feeding a pair of orphaned kittens), a panel of pundits was discussing that very thing, some of them taking precisely that kind of position from which to debate. Forgive me, please, for being unable to recall the name of the man who observed that he believed the opposite was true, that The Sum of All Fears should, in fact, be required viewing for all Americans. He felt that it wouldn't hurt us and that it could prove very helpful to us to get a glimpse of the magnitude of a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction.

Not only am I inclined to consider the worry-wort critic to be a mother hen I wish would stay out of my business, I'm firmly on the side of that Saturday night commentator who suggested we might all have something to learn from The Sum of All Fears. (Lady Liberty's "Monday Morning Quarterback Note: Looks like most of us figured we could handle seeing the flick. It made over $31 million over the weekend, and toppled Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones from the number one spot.) See this movie, and you'll get a peek at the ultimate horror: a determined madman who has the wherewithal to go over the top.

In The Sum of All Fears, we, the audience, know who the terrorists are. But will the CIA find out in time to prevent the administration from assuming it's someone else? Will the terror attack be stopped? Will the attack escalate beyond the ability of anyone to control? Even having read the novel, I was on the edge of my seat during much of the showing. In part, this was because of departures from the novel's storyline. But it was also because the filmmakers kept the pace moving smartly along, never dwelling too long anywhere, but smoothly giving us a detailed overview and then focusing in on the main players who were under considerable pressure to figure things out, even when they thought they had figured them out.

Ben Affleck, a big guy who conveys a simultaneous "aw, shucks, ma'am" look with a stubborn and determined attitude, is perfect to play Ryan (Alec Baldwin is too anti-American in his personal life for me to stomach him in any remotely patriotic role, and Harrison Ford, whom I adore, is simply too old). Morgan Freeman, always a class act, delivers a solid performance, a stellar moment of which is a indescribable look of horror on his face when he gets a phone call at a football game. And Cromwell, often playing an understated, soft-spoken man, manages to get his ire up more than once, convincingly portraying a conflicted president short on both time and information (it's not Cromwell's fault the scriptwriters occasionally made him a little more obtuse than he should have been).

I liked this movie quite a bit. The tension was terrific, and the story, though nowhere near as deep as it could have been, did just fine for its two-hour limitations. Most importantly, it generated a good deal of discussion in our car on the way home, which may be the best indicator of all that a movie actually meant something.

Family Suitability: The Sum of all Fears is rated PG-13, which is probably just about right. Young children won't understand some of the plot machinations, and older children will likely be frightened. The movie is just fine for young teens and up, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone in those age groups.