Director Phil Alden Robinson hasn't made many movies, but when he does, he makes 'em good! Both Sneakers and Field Of Dreams are classics, although I'm having difficulty obtaining some his smaller films like In The Mood and Freedom Song to confirm his consistency. His last film back in 2002. the Tom Clancy adaptation The Sum Of All Fears certainly proves he's a force of nature in the film business.
It's a multi-stranded story following a rogue warhead's journey from the Israeli desert, via devious, disgruntled Soviets, via kidnapped Russian scientists to US soil. It encapsulates a love story for young hero Jack Ryan to the political brinkmanship of the Presidents of global superpowers. Dense, intricate, complex, thrilling, tense and shocking The Sum Of All Fears plays like a grown up version of True Lies (without the marriage subplot). All the separate elements are effortlessly balanced until the final half hour when a surprise is sprung on the audience. From then on things simplify into a flat out, race-against-time actioner.
It's mature, amazingly well cast, written and directed with a confident yet subtle touch, and is gripping from beginning to end. Please Mr Robinson...make more films.
