...(the movie) features the kinds of clichés, routine explosions, and not-so-intriguing conspiracies that make discerning viewers yawn.
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In my review of the "Patriot Games" Special Collector´s Edition DVD, I wrote that the second Jack Ryan film was a considerable step back for the franchise after the intelligent and engrossing "The Hunt for Red October". "Clear and Present Danger" is neither a step back nor a step forward for the series--it follows in the second film´s indolent, complacent existence. Harrison Ford is a major contributing factor when it comes to the middling achievements of "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger". He´s a Hollywood heavyweight, so he can often dictate the tone and story developments of movies in which he appears. However, his ideas aren´t necessarily the best to employ, especially when they serve to make him look good rather than to improve the overall project. (Also, if Ford was really that good at making judgment calls, then why isn´t he a director or a screenwriter?) Also, I tire of the actor´s "confused middle-aged man" routine that he uses for almost every film.
In "Clear and Present Danger", Jack Ryan (Ford) finds himself promoted to the office of Deputy Director of Intelligence at the CIA when his friend Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones) falls ill with cancer. Ryan has to investigate the brutal murder of a businessman with ties to South American drug cartels. Since this businessman was a close friend of the President of the United States, top executives in the administration authorize a covert military operation--the kind that has been declared illegal by international law as well as by the United States Congress. Ryan´s been left out of the loop, so he doesn´t know anything about American soldiers being left to fend for themselves in hostile territory. Also, Ryan looks like he could be set up as the fall guy should word of American military involvement in Colombia be leaked to the public.
"Clear and Present Danger" was competently and professionally made. However, it features the kinds of clichés, routine explosions, and not-so-intriguing conspiracies that make discerning viewers yawn. We´re supposed to accept the Jack Ryan character as a hero just because he has a nice wife and two cute kids. We´re supposed to believe that the President and his advisors are the bad guys because they are fighting a secret war against drugs. I realize that movies use shortcuts to avoid lengthy expository dialogue, but the script for "Clear and Present Danger" insults viewers´ intelligence. The truth of the matter is that if real life situations were that simple, we wouldn´t be facing the kinds of problems that plague us.
In addition to the same old tricks, we get Harrison Ford playing a near-blank. "Patriot Games" begins with Ford huffing-and-puffing in slow motion as he runs towards his family across a town square. In "Clear and Present Danger", he huffs-and-puffs in slow motion, running away from vehicular wreckage after terrorists ambush a convoy of American SUVs. The best moment involving Jack Ryan in this movie occurs late in the film when the character cheekily requests an audience with a drug lord with his CIA business card. However, this is a scripted moment rather than an actor´s moment, so credit for this comic grace note goes to something other than Ford´s acting chops.
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