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Affleck ‘Inept’ In "The Sum of All Fears"
By Christy LeMire AP Entertainment Writer Ben Affleck is not the guy I want saving my country from nuclear annihilation at the hands of the Russians. But that’s exactly the burden laid upon him in "The Sum of All Fears," the fourth Tom Clancy novel to hit the screen. Affleck is the latest actor to star as CIA analyst Jack Ryan, but he’s no Harrison Ford, who was perfect for the part in "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger." And he’s no Alec Baldwin, who was just as solid in originating the role in 1990’s "The Hunt for Red October." He’s not even Stephen Baldwin. When Affleck he breezes into a scene in a supporting role — as in "Shakespeare in Love" and "Boiler Room" — he’s captivating. When he’s asked to carry a film as an action hero — as in "Pearl Harbor" and "Reindeer Games" — he’s inept. Much more is wrong with the movie than its casting, though. In adapting Clancy’s 1991 book ``The Sum of All Fears,’’ Daniel Pyne and Paul Attanasio (a former Washington Post film critic who wrote "Quiz Show" and "Donnie Brasco") have turned Ryan into a 28-year-old neophyte. But this isn’t a prequel; the film takes place in the present. In the book and the preceding movies, however, Ryan is already a veteran, having gone from CIA analyst to director of intelligence. So essentially, this character exists in a time warp, which seems like an affront to the author’s fans, who are legion in their devotion to the series. (Clancy didn’t seem to mind, though; he’s an executive producer.) And then there’s the premise: A nuclear bomb that was "lost" in 1973 (how do you lose a nuclear bomb?) is unearthed 29 years later in the Middle East and sold to a European neo-Nazi (Alan Bates). He has it hidden in a cigarette machine and placed inside Baltimore’s football stadium during the Super Bowl, hoping that when it explodes, leftover Cold War mistrust will cause the United States to blame Russia for the attack, and the two superpowers will destroy each other. Ryan just happens to have written a paper on the new Russian president (Ciaran Hinds) and is sure Russia isn’t responsible for the attack. No one believes him, naturally - not CIA director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman), or the hawkish defense secretary (Philip Baker Hall), or the dovish secretary of state (Ron Rifkin), and certainly not the obtuse president (James Cromwell). (All these actors - especially Freeman - upstage Affleck every time, and they still feel underused.) So when the bomb goes off, it’s a good thing Ryan miraculously survives the helicopter crash the blast causes (with only a few scratches on his boyish mug) so he can scramble to play peacemaker. His doctor girlfriend, Cathy (Bridget Moynahan playing a younger version of Anne Archer’s role), also emerges with barely more than a scratch, even though she’s standing near a wall of windows at the hospital and is thrown across the room. The explosion occurs about halfway through the film, so we witness the aftermath — sort of. After Sept. 11, it may sound too painful to watch a film depicting the devastation following a terrorist attack. Some of the imagery conjures memories of that day: the smoky chaos, the wailing sirens, the gray blanket of ash. Emergency workers even refer to the blast site as "ground zero." But director Phil Alden Robinson (``Field of Dreams’’) barely acknowledges the thousands of people who must have died in the explosion, much less the radiation; he’s more concerned with the thundering fighter jets and screaming missiles of retaliation. More compelling, though, is the covert work CIA operative John Clark (Liev Schreiber) is doing to find out who planted the bomb. Schreiber brings so much presence, wit and charisma to his scenes, it would have been a joy to see him play Jack Ryan instead. "The Sum of All Fears" is rated PG-13 for violence, disaster images and brief string language. Running time: 118 minutes.
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