The Sum of all Fears stars Ben Affleck Morgan Freeman terrorist thriller jack ryan

First off I'd like to say we shouldn't wave our finger pointing at Hollywood. While it's probably likely watching violence isn't good for children, terrorists aren't sitting in bunkers in an impoverished country popping in "Die Hard" in order to plot major attacks. This film was repeatedly snubbed by people for that reason. Ugh!

Jack Ryan (Affleck) is our hero, he works for the CIA (desk job really). If you are familiar with Clancy novels you'll know he's been played by both Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. But here he's a brash young man with a girl that he adores. The film begins with a nuclear bomb give to Israel that was lost in 1973. Year's later it's found, but ends up in the hands of the wrong person. Ryan is eventually called to act as an advisor by Cabbot (Morgan Freeman) as tensions begin to heat up with a new Presidency in Russia. Cromwell plays the President of the United States, and as it turns out they will all be put to the ultimate test when the threat of a nuclear war becomes more than a fire drill.

To give away too much of the plot which is very complicated and inventive, would be unfair. If you read the book, you probably won't like it. I can't say for sure, I'm only going by the fact that a movie is almost never as good as a book! The only bad aspects of the film were the "Bad guy" who we don't really get to know much about, and Afflecks girlfriend seemed like just a character thrown in the mix to make him look like a regular guy with a life. But I don't think I would have had another hour to spare to learn more about what makes her tick. That's just me.

What makes the story smart is not the detonation of a bomb and the fear and a bad guy plot. It's the intricate details of the motives of that bad guy, something we've probably seen little of in film. The threat of nuclear war has always scared us, probably moreso for those who lived through the Cuban Missle Crisis. And the movie gives a definate feel of "Wargames", there's alot we never know that goes behind closed government doors, and alot of decisions we could never be part of. Which is truly the tragedy here when it's our lives for the sake of politics and strategy that are at stake. John Q. public is the pawn of a greater game. Some parts of the film seem to move so swiftly that your mind may reel to keep up with the details, so initially the plot setup is confusing. But it's smart. You gotta love Morgan Freeman, it often makes me realize how good he is to watch and doesn't seem to get alot of recognition. Affleck is probably better in this role than he's been in alot of recent films, which incidentally have been just plain awful.

Thumbs up for me, it had it's flaws but it was entertaining. And a sidenote: Before going to the movies please shower. Nobody appreciates the guy behind them that smells like gasoline and b.o.

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