This time around, Morgan Freeman avoids portraying the President in what turns out to be a fairly ordinary political thriller centered on an impending disaster. Instead, he takes on the role of CIA director "Cabot," collaborating with analyst "Jack Ryan" (Ben Affleck) to prevent a plot involving a stolen nuclear explosive aimed at triggering a full-scale war between the United States and Russia. Those orchestrating t…

The movie itself isn’t bad; it’s arguably among Affleck’s more successful films. It seems, though, that whoever adapted the screenplay didn’t have the same version of “The Sum Of All Fears” as I did, because there were only a few things that matched up: the title, the primary characters, and the presence of nuclear weapons. The shift from Denver to Baltimore feels arbitrary; the connections between Ryan and many of t…

A nuclear weapon ends up in the possession of a neo-fascist extremist with plans to create conflict between the United States and Russia, leading to an unimaginable situation. "The Sum of All Fears," adapted from Tom Clancy’s novel (2002), casts Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan, who transitions from CIA analyst to operative; Morgan Freeman portrays his superior; and James Cromwell appears as the president. There are other…

It’s unsettling to consider who else might possess a significant number of nuclear weapons. The Sum of All Fears, directed by Phil Alden Robinson and adapted for the screen by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne from Tom Clancy's novel, features Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Ciaran Hinds, Liev Schreiber, Bridget Moynahan, and Michael Byrne in its cast. Jerry Goldsmith composed the music, and John Lindley…