Storyline
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.
Directors
Cast
Ciarán Hinds, Philip Baker Hall, Colm Feore, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Constantine Gregory, Liev Schreiber, Ben Affleck, Lee Garlington, Bruce McGill, LisaGay Hamilton, Bridget Moynahan, Michel 'Gish' Abou-Samah, Michael Byrne, Ken Jenkins, Josef Sommer, Alan Bates, Ron Rifkin, John Beasley, Richard Marner
Trailer
Reviews
88
Chicago Sun-Times
Director Phil Alden Robinson and his writers, Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne, do a spellbinding job of cranking up the tension, they create a portrait of convincing realism, and then they add the other stuff because, well, if anybody ever makes a movie like this without the obligatory Hollywood softeners, audiences might flee the theater in despair.
75
All told, it's a reasonably effective movie, but it might have been a lot more effective had it the guts to portray a Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden-like character as its villain instead of this rather unbelievable, but more politically correct, gaggle of cardboard neo-Nazis.
75
Charlotte Observer
A middlebrow hybrid that should satisfy most fans of spy movies without blowing them away.
70
Chicago Reader
Screenwriters Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne stick to Clancy's sure-fire formula -- building tension from the political infighting behind a worsening crisis.
67
Portland Oregonian
The tension is so plausibly high that you're eager to see how it winds up. Eager enough, in fact, to forgive Jack Ryan for reversing the aging process and winding up as Ben Affleck.
