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The Sum of All Fears (2002) More at IMDbPro »

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Ford Power, 30 January 2004

Author: dunmore_ego from Los Angeles, California

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Spoilers.

Not since Marky Mark replaced Charlton Heston in Tim Burton's remarkable film about ape-poo, has there been such an inadequate, impotent re-imagining of a well-known filmic character. We went from Alec Baldwin's Runway-Model Jack Ryan (equivalent to Roger Moore's Bond), to Harrison Ford's REAL MAN Jack Ryan, a presence to be reckoned with (definitely the William Shatner of the Ryans), arriving now at the girl-child Ben Affleck, shouldering a character which he has not the imagination, let alone the acting prowess, to flesh out, trying to command respect by keeping his hairstyle trendy.

Again, as in Marky Mark's Planet Of The Apes, we have the unpopular guy at school being made classroom monitor and having shoes thrown at him when he asks for quiet. Would anyone feel an inkling of reassurance in the case of a nuclear strike if Affleck's dandelion Ryan was swishing about yapping counterstrike measures in that girl-scout alto squeal?

All we needed was Jason Biggs in the role of Liev Schreiber, Eric Roberts in the role of James Cromwell, and Todd (whatchoo talking' bout Willis?) Bridges playing the role of Morgan Freeman and we'd have a quorum on our hands.

And didn't Harrison Ford have a full-fledged FAMILY in his Ryan movies? In this movie, with Ryan being such a young-un, did these events take place BEFORE or AFTER the first attack on the Death Star?

We see Affleck in some 'steamy' embraces with his plain girlfriend, to disprove the theory that he really is Jennifer Lopez's lesbian love-interest, but there's more heat in the iceberg that rammed the Titanic.

There is also some intriguing plot twist involving weapons that Americans sold to Israelis being used against America itself - ooooh, like THAT'S something new!

The second half of the film, Affleck composes many exciting Instant Messages while stealing a truck, and shouts into a cellphone a lot, trying desperately to grow into the mantle of action hero which has been thrust upon him. And makes James Cromwell look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the process.

An insular world of political 'leaders' all making threats, weaponry, war-gamery for their own agendas, caring nothing, DOING nothing for the rest of us in the trenches, only involving us when things blow up and it's reported by CNN. To make a movie about nuclear threat even remotely interesting these days.. DON'T make it. It's BORING. It's POINTLESS. It's not even ORIGINAL - it's yet another re-telling of Macbeth (do unto your neighbor BEFORE he does unto you).

At movie's end, specifically for the Great Unwashed, James Cromwell delivers a wildly original, ineffectual speech about eliminating nuclear weapons, obviously to quell fears that were aroused during the attacks of September 11, 2001 on the American World Trade Center - yet, I seem to remember no nuclear weapons were used in that attack.. (No one quite 'gets it'. As Michael Corleone tells us: 'If history has taught us anything, it's that you can kill anyone.' Which propounds that even the fairytale eventuality of No Nuclear Weapons will not curb Mankind's bloodlust and religious superstition - which means that even if you take away all the drugs and cigarettes and booze and guns and terrorists, people will STILL find excuses to kill each other and ways to do it.)

27,000 nuclear weapons. One is missing. Who cares?

The Sum Of All Fears: that Ben Affleck will be the next James Bond.

(Movie Maniacs, visit: www.thedunmore.com/POFFY-MovieReviews.html)

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