Jack Ryan — the fabled CIA analyst who has graced big screens since The Hunt for Red October in the ’80s — has returned to movie theaters. About time. In this superb spy thriller, we are treated to an origin story of Ryan. Although not a continuation of the old Jack Ryan films, it is a reboot that essentially asks the question: what if Tom Clancy’s beloved spy character Jack Ryan was moved to more modern times beginning in the 2000s? And that’s where we find him. After overcoming great adversity as a Marine at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is approached by a CIA officer (Kevin Costner) and recruited into the CIA where he stumbles into a geopolitical web that he never could have imagined. Meanwhile, he is trying to balance his covert life with the personal life he shares with his girlfriend (Keira Knightley).
Parental Guidance Issues at a Glance…
The film is rated PG-13 for other reasons.
Violence/Gore: It’s a spy movie that is trying to be as
realistic and plausible as possible — as any movie with a Tom Clancy character
should do. This unfortunately includes the violence. While it is not graphic in
an R-rated gory way, there is plenty of murder and mayhem, and it is very
realistic. A character’s grossly mangled, bloody face is shown in a long
close-up shot after a vehicle crash. He is alive, and we see the desperation in
his eyes, which makes the bloody scene more powerful and disturbing. A man is
drowned in a brutal fashion, and we see his face underwater as it happens. A
character stabs a man in the stomach and rams him against the wall. Plenty of
people are shot dead. A woman is choked and threatened with torture in a
psychologically disturbing way because the villain describes in great detail
what he intends to do and how she will suffer. A man is stabbed in the neck.
Language: One f-word and a swarm of other lesser expletives.
Alcohol/Drug/Smoking Content: A man pretends to get drunk
and take pain medication for recreational purposes.
Frightening/Intense Content: Please do not take kids under
13 — even if your child is really into spy/action movies. There are quite a few
intense and, to a certain degree, disturbing scenes. Also, if you’re a war
veteran or a family member of one — especially one who fought in any recent
wars — be warned that military violence in Afghanistan is depicted with great
realism, though with PG-13 restraint. In addition, a soldier is almost
paralyzed and is seen enduring the emotional, physical, and mental agony of
rehabilitation. All of the scenes of violence are intense and some of them are
psychologically disturbing — like the drowning scene and the scene where the
woman is threatened with torture. Personally, I’m particularly sensitive to
realistic depictions of drowning. I had to look away during that scene.
The Review…
If you’re not aware, Tom Clancy was a famous novelist who
wrote some of the best military/spy thrillers ever produced. He died in October
2013, and I am still grieving the loss of his writing genius. Jack Ryan was his
most famous character who appeared in many of Clancy’s novels. What made his
books so powerful was the extensive research he did. For his classic The Hunt
for Red October, for example — which is about a nuclear submarine — he actually
gained access to active nuclear submarines and conducted research directly with
the crew. He didn’t Google his research, in other words. Heck, the Internet
didn’t even exist when he wrote many of his finest books. Tom Clancy knew so
many little details about the military and spy craft that his books never
seemed like fiction. Every single one felt entirely plausible and real as if
you were reading history.
Even though this reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise is not
based on any of Tom Clancy’s novels, it pays its respects to him by being
well-researched and plausible enough to pass as a Jack Ryan film.
And when I heard that Kenneth Branagh (Thor) was directing,
I knew I had to see this movie. I am such a Branagh fan that I will pretty much
see any movie that he makes, even if it’s about tomatoes growing in a garden.
He is a rare gem in Hollywood because he has a complete mastery of Shakespeare.
He has played numerous Shakespeare characters, adapted many of Shakespeare’s
plays to the screen with fantastic success, and he has studied all things
Shakespeare for decades. Why does this matter for a Hollywood film? Because it
means, without fail, any movie that Branagh makes will convey a masterful
understanding of human nature, which is what Shakespeare so powerfully teaches.
It means that every character will have a rich, complex depth of humanity in
them — even the villains — that is closer to what we find in real life. Branagh’s
genius as a director, in my opinion, was why his film Thor was such a huge
success. Branagh’s characters are not 2-D, as is the problem in a multitude of
Hollywood films. His characters aren’t even 3-D — more like 4-D. You feel what
each character feels: whether it’s the terror and adrenaline that races through
a character’s veins as he has to pick up a gun for the first time and use it on
another human being or the multiple layers of motivation that drives the
villain to do villain-y things.
Speaking of villains, Kenneth Branagh not only directs the
film, but he plays the bad guy — a Russian named Viktor Cherevin who has ice
water in his veins. Branagh makes the character quietly terrifying with a
countenance so chilling that the temperature changes whenever Viktor enters the
scene. And Branagh’s Russian accent is absolutely perfect. He got so
convincingly lost in the character that there were times I forgot I was
watching Kenneth Branagh on-screen. Yet we also see fleeting moments of
humanity in the villain. We see his weaknesses and moments of normalcy as a
real human being that makes his sudden acts of evil that much more jarring.
Kevin Costner as a veteran CIA agent was a perfect casting
choice. Costner’s weary, unimpressed, somewhat calloused performance made you
genuinely believe that agent Thomas Harper had been in the CIA for decades, had
seen and done terrible things that brought a quiet stoniness to his heart; and
— even while the young Jack Ryan was shaking with nerves — it was just another
day at the office for him. Nothing surprised him, and he seemed wearily
resigned to the shadow world that he inhabited.
Chris Pine as Jack Ryan makes a wonderful spy/action star.
He doesn’t have that cartoonish action star style where nothing ever phases him
or gets inside his head. We see in his performance how the events have a very
believable impact on his character emotionally and psychologically.
Keira Knightley as Cathy Muller was also an inspired choice.
She skillfully conveys the warmth that makes Jack Ryan at home whenever she’s
in his arms. Her wholesome faithfulness to Jack as a girlfriend creates a
powerful contrast with the ice-cold shadow world of Jack’s employment. As her
character develops and changes, Keira makes every moment absolutely believable
and emotionally palpable.
All of the scenes in Moscow are fantastic. The stunning
minarets and architecture of Moscow is a treat to see, and I wish more of the
film had taken place there.
Redemptive Value
“Regret piles up around us like books we have never read.”
This is a line uttered sincerely by Kenneth Branagh’s Russian villain Viktor
Cherevin. From the perspective of film craft, the conversation that contains
this line is one of the best scenes of the film. The dialogue is very literary
and thought provoking, which is not surprising considering who is sitting in
the director’s chair. That line also provides a powerful summary of what this
film is all about on a deeper level. Although not stated overtly, the film
reveals a common thread between all of the characters: regret and the wounds of
the past — sometimes literally — that haunt them. The motivations of each
character, even when twisted, also carry a common thread of undying loyalty
towards what they view as the most precious things in life. Yes, even the
villain feels a certain tenderness about the things he values the most. You
feel his pain. You feel his emptiness. There is even a sadness there — not only
for the villain but for his country.
The film asks a pressing question: can we ever be free from
regret? The film answers with a confident “yes,” but it takes courage and
selflessness to find that liberty and — as the movie so artfully depicts with
symbolism — there is hope of getting past our regrets when we realize that our
sins and darkness can be cast into the depths of the sea.
Conclusion
I’m a big fan of the spy genre, and this film holds its own
against the best of them. I do wish that Branagh had been given a better, less
predictable plot to work with, like one of Tom Clancy’s actual novels; but
Branagh does an absolutely superb job with what he is given. I’m already
looking forward to the sequel of what I expect to be a successful new spy
franchise.
It’s good to see Jack Ryan back on the big screen.