The Sum of All Fears Review
By Joe Lozito
"Sum" doesn't add up to much
I'm not sure if it's fair to hold a movie up against the events of 9/11 when it was made before that infamous date. On the one hand, there was no way the makers of Tom Clancy's newest political caper "The Sum of all Fears" could have known that terrorism, particularly on American soil, would take on a new sense of danger and urgency when they made the film. On the other hand, they did release it. I don't think that this type of Cold War terrorist yarn is extinct by any means, but I do think that filmmakers need to set their films in a new reality. Americans, and really all people, have had their eyes opened. Gone are the days when a teaser trailer of the White House imploding will elicit roars of applause, a la "Independence Day". In fact, even the memory of those days brings an odd mix of sadness and longing. Longing for the innocence we lost and sadness that we may never retrieve it. I'm sure one day a film will find a way to take us back to those days, but until then I think filmmakers have a responsibility to show audiences a new degree of respect (and I know that's asking for a lot).
In "The Sum of all Fears", Clancy hero Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck, playing the character exactly how you think he would) is a CIA agent recruited for his knowledge of a new Russian President. Before he knows it, he is investigating the construction of a potential rogue nuclear weapon, which is eventually smuggled into the United States and detonated at Baltimore's PSINet stadium during the Super Bowl. I'm not giving away a crucial plot point here, but it is important to note that, after seeing the film, I actually thought a nuclear catastrophe like this one wouldn't be too bad! That is how lightly this film handles the disaster. The main characters, though bloodied and knocked to the ground, seem to pull through okay. No mention is made of radiation sickness or the tens of thousand of people instantly vaporized in and around the stadium. Instead we see a few discrete hospital scenes and news footage that gives no estimation of the number of victims.
Again, I can't fault the film for not knowing the political climate into which it would be released (for one thing, Clancy's original novel was written in 1991). So I'll try to review this as if I saw it before 9/11. The film follows the same structure as the definitive Tom Clancy thriller, 1990's "The Hunt for Red October". But the film has none of the urgency of its predecessor, nor does Ben Affleck convey an ounce of the gravity needed for this role. He doesn't have Harrison Ford's inherent heroism, or Alec Baldwin's reluctant intelligence. Instead, Mr. Affleck runs from scene to scene trying to catch up with the film like a child chasing a runaway kite.
Director Phil Alden Robinson ("Sneakers", HBO's "Band of Brothers") pulls out every trick in his arsenal - shaky handheld, over-exposure - to propel the film, but the script by Paul Attanasio (the exceedingly superior "Donnie Brasco" and "Quiz Show") is too simplistic and spends too much time having Ryan's hunches proven correct. Just once I'd like to see him guess something completely wrong. Although, with instincts like that, I guess it's no wonder he eventually becomes President in the later Clancy novels. James Cromwell - who plays President Powell in "Sum" - I would vote for, but Ben Affleck? To reference another current event: I demand a recount.
