Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for action violence and brief profanity
By Derrick Bang
This is the most fun I’ve had
with a spy thriller since 2004’s The
Bourne Supremacy ... and possibly since 1975’s Three Days of the Condor.
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| Jack Ryan (Chris Pine, left) doesn't miss much, so he's not surprised when Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner), having monitored the younger man's hospital convalescence, formally introduces himself and makes a tantalizing offer: Would Ryan like to join the CIA? Needless to say, there'd be no movie if Ryan declined... |
Actually, the Condor comparison may be more apt, since
this re-boot of Tom Clancy’s intrepid CIA analyst — played in previous films by
Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck — places a greater emphasis on
Ryan’s analytical skills, while making him a reluctant secret agent. The
resulting action dynamic evokes fond memories of Robert Redford’s similarly
desperate efforts, in Condor, to make
the most of a set of circumstances far outside his comfort zone.
Not that star Chris Pine’s fresh
take on Jack Ryan is wholly inexperienced when it comes to field work, as was
the case with Redford’s character. As seems obligatory these days, with
“rookie” covert operatives, this re-imagined Ryan is a former Marine with
plenty of hoo-rah grit and
hand-to-hand combat skills, in addition to his university book-learnin’.
Indeed, we’re introduced to a
college-age Ryan attending classes at the London School of Economics, on the
fateful day when terrorists take out New York’s Twin Towers. Galvanized into
serving his country, Ryan becomes a Marine and nearly loses his life.
Convalescence and subsequent physical therapy bring two people into his orbit:
flirty, kind-hearted med student Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley), and stoic man
of mystery Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner).
The former, we can be sure, will
become this story’s obligatory love interest; the latter, armed with Costner’s
devilish smile, is the CIA recruiter who brings Ryan into the fold. But not,
Harper insists, until the younger man returns to school and obtains his degree.
The CIA wants Ryan to be Wall
Street-savvy, the better to ferret out nasty back-room dealings that might
endanger the U.S. economy.
Flash-forward to the present day,
with Ryan comfortably ensconced at a high-profile Wall Street firm where nobody
knows of his actual career. “Nobody” includes Cathy, now a main squeeze of many
years’ standing, who has become a pediatric eye surgeon. Thus far, Cathy hasn’t
had any reason to wonder about her lover’s candor — Ryan has taken the CIA
secrecy pledge very seriously — but, naturally,
that’s about to change.
I’m not sure that plot
contrivance works in this day and age; it seems highly unlikely that Ryan could
have concealed his shadowy activities for so long. People who live together
generally know each other’s movements better than that, and the resulting
“trouble” caused by this secret seems a mite silly ... even when Pine does his
best to sell the notion with his unabashed charm and Boy Scout enthusiasm.
But it’s not a major problem, and
the subterfuge does prompt several cute exchanges between Pine and Knightley,
both of whom deliver plenty of captivating star wattage.
