CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael John Legeros
Directed by Philip Noyce Written by Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian, and John Milius Cast Harrison Ford, Willem DaFoe, Anne Archer, Donald Moffat, Harris Yulin, Henry Czerny, Joaquim de Almeida, Raymond Cruz, Miguel Sandoval, Dean Jones (!), Hope Lange (!!), James Earl Jones MPAA Rating "PG-13" Running Time 144 minutes
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"The world is gray, Jack."
- Czerny to Ford
Continuity buffs can rejoice at the return of Jack Ryan in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, the third Tom Clancy adaptation behind THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER and PATRIOT GAMES. Back is second-star Harrison Ford (after Alec Baldwin). Back is second-director Philip Noyce, who helmed the horrendous PATRIOT GAMES.
And, surprise, the film is good. Very good.
The story sees Jack stepping into the shoes of his boss (James Earl Jones), the Acting Deputy Director of Intelligence. Conflict comes when Ryan's White House "buddies" won't let him in on a little secret--the fact that President has given his round-about authorization to a covert military operation against a Columbia drug lord (Sandoval). (Said czar murdered a friend of the President (Donald Moffat) that is a very bad thing to do.)
So, when the operation inevitably goes from worse to up doo-doo creek, Ryan finds out too much, too late. And he blows. His. Stack.
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER is a big, loud, military movie, brimming with bombs, and jets, and Coast Guard cutters, and aircraft carriers, and, of course, stone-faced soldiers carrying flag-draped caskets. Just the way that Tom Clancy writes 'em, and just the way co-writer John Milius scripts 'em.
Like THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, the cast is filled almost entirely by solemn, serious-looking men who spend all of the their time making Important Decisions without every cracking their countenance. Ford, Moffat, Jones, Harris Yulin, Henry Czerny, Joaquim de Almeida, Raymond Cruz, Miguel Sandoval, and Willem DaFoe make up *the* best boys club of the summer.
(Best of the bunch in Harris Yulin as the President's Chief of Staff. His silence speaks volumes. But what's Dean Jones doing here?)
The film has a good pace, despite the mildly confusing plot. Those who haven't read the novel (or seen a good spy movie lately) may need to take notes. The politics are also very good and, even though the bad guys *do* get theirs, the film is remarkably devoid of any gratuitious violence.
Too bad that everything is played way-too-straight. CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER is about as rigid as they come and, under the unexpectedly tight reigns of Noyce, allows almost *no* room for levity. James Earl Jones gets to show all of two smiles, and Harrison Ford loosens up some, and that's about it, and that's a shame.
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER is too long and too literate to be a toss-away actioner, but, with a little added "breathing room" for the characters, could've been on *heck* of an epic.
BOTTOM LINE: Twice as good as PATRIOT GAMES, but lacks the slick sheen
of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
Grade: B+
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