Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Now that James Bond movies are spiffy once more, it has fallen to film adaptations of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels to evoke that air of departure lounge dreariness and frequent flyer espionage particular to mid-period 007. Don't be fooled by Affleck stepping in as Ryan. The face may have changed, but this still adds up to the same deal. Here, Ryan is a hotshot analyst recruited by CIA director William Cabot (Freeman) to assess the risk posed by an enigmatic Russian president (Hinds). When a nuclear strike hits Baltimore, Ryan knows in his gut that Russia has been framed. With the exception of a triumphantly sardonic turn from Freeman, and the occasional spit 'n' crackle of dialogue co-written by Paul Attanasio, this gutless film-making exploits the cheap thrill of casual apocalypse, but can't deliver the fundamental goods. The picture flits between continents like a grasshopper on a globe, but, for all the curiosity Robinson displays toward the faces and locations passing before his camera, he might as well have left the lens cap on.

Author: RGi 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Producer: Mace Neufeld

Cast: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Liev Schreiber, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Bates, Ciarán Hinds, Philip Baker Hall, Ron Rifkin, Josef Sommer full cast

Genre(s): Thrillers

Duration: 124 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.