By Graeme Stirling
In the wake of Tom Clancy’s recent death, and with the upcoming release of the new Jack Ryan film (coming soon to Trailer Park), we take a look at some of the classic film adaptations of his work. This week, Patriot Games.
Certain films have a certain impact for reasons far outside of cinema – when you first saw them, where and who with, how they affected your tastes and imagination from then on. Childhood favourites always seem to be the best. The Jack Ryan film series began in 1990 and has continued in some form or another ever since. I watched all of these at home with my dad and my brother, beginning with the second adaptation – 1992’s Patriot Games – and have been a fan ever since.
In the wake of Tom Clancy’s recent death, and with the upcoming release of the new Jack Ryan film (coming soon to Trailer Park), we take a look at some of the classic film adaptations of his work. This week, Patriot Games.
Certain films have a certain impact for reasons far outside of cinema – when you first saw them, where and who with, how they affected your tastes and imagination from then on. Childhood favourites always seem to be the best. The Jack Ryan film series began in 1990 and has continued in some form or another ever since. I watched all of these at home with my dad and my brother, beginning with the second adaptation – 1992’s Patriot Games – and have been a fan ever since.
Call me dull, but I’ve always preferred well-executed realism – i.e. believable plots and action – to anything fantastic. Tom Clancy was the master of taking this oeuvre and stretching it to its limits on the page, his early novels seeing politicians and military personal caught up in a well-drawn, vaguely sci-fi tinted world of espionage and war that was mostly grounded in contemporary goings-on. He was also adept at crafting charismatic characters, none more so than reluctant CIA analyst Jack Ryan. The version portrayed by Harrison Ford, differing in some ways from the man on the page and from the style of the other actors to have played him, was possibly the best of all. Here’s the how and the why.
The film begins with Ryan and his family holidaying in London. He is presenting a lecture on Soviet naval activity and, on his way out of the building, stumbles upon an attempt to kidnap Lord Holmes – in the novel, it was the Prince of Wales – by a radical faction of the IRA. Ryan intervenes and, in the process, shoots and kills the younger brother of one the terrorist gang, setting in motion the rest of the film’s events as the antagonist – played by Sean Bean – sets out on a manic vengeance quest.
The film begins with Ryan and his family holidaying in London. He is presenting a lecture on Soviet naval activity and, on his way out of the building, stumbles upon an attempt to kidnap Lord Holmes – in the novel, it was the Prince of Wales – by a radical faction of the IRA. Ryan intervenes and, in the process, shoots and kills the younger brother of one the terrorist gang, setting in motion the rest of the film’s events as the antagonist – played by Sean Bean – sets out on a manic vengeance quest.
A key aspect of the film’s appeal was making Ryan a sympathetic protagonist, the fear and pressure palpable as he tries to continue his daily life in the aftermath of the attack. Perhaps Clancy’s only mistake in crafting the character was to make Ryan an ex-US Marine, giving him a convenient hard-man streak that actually takes away from his 'every-man' persona. Ford plays the character as a regular guy – he is wounded in the attack, struggles under cross-examination in court and seems nervous and jittery throughout much of the film. He works as a history professor at the US Naval Academy and is initially reluctant to rejoin the CIA, doing so only after follow-up attempts on his and his family’s lives on American soil. There are long sequences of him sitting at his desk and in the cafeteria of an Annapolis hospital, flashbacks and voices running through his head. This is finally countered by a classic Harrison Ford technique – the quivering angry face and matching, broken voice, employed at least briefly in almost all of his roles – when he loses control, threatening a senior IRA representative. When he fights off and finally kills Bean’s character at the end, he resembles not a military man but a cornered victim running on adrenaline. It was always Clancy’s intention for Ryan to be a devoted family man, as are most of his characters, but I feel it works better without the edge of underlying badass portrayed on the page (the written Ryan is more brash in his dialogue and mannerisms, referencing the prowess of his old unit and making liberal use of the word “motherfucker”).
Of course, it has its downsides. A few of the action sequences are troubled by the same flaws as most of their 90s counterparts (such as bad firearm sound effects), which are dealt with my minimizing gore and keeping shooting victims out of frame in most cases. A particularly well-designed scene sees an uncomfortable Ryan and his colleagues watch via satellite feed as an SAS unit, rendered from overhead in night-vision green, storm a terrorist training camp and kill multiple suspects. The most obvious problem, typical of old Hollywood, is that few of the Irish and Northern Irish characters are actually played by actors from these regions and the accents leave plenty to be desired, including Yorkshireman Bean’s attempt at an angry Belfast native. Richard Harris does a slightly better job as the unfortunately named Paddy O’Neill – a good bit of American subtlety there – and it isn’t too noticeable unless you’re looking for problems.
The climactic scene is, appropriately, the best of the film, the dread and tension genuinely well done as the baddies descend on Ryan’s comfortable home – the last safe place he has – in the midst of a stormy night. After the action comes another cozy family scene and a set-up for the next film, 1994’s Clear and Present Danger.
I’m biased. I love this film. The balance of action and all the other elements seems rare these days. There’s little in the way of car chases, fist and bullet fights and the CIA are shown as suited office staff with desktop computers and mountains of paperwork, struggling to make any headway. Neither side is more capable than the other and both make mistakes. Both are fighting, in one way another, for homeland and loved ones. Even the ending looks though it could almost go either way, and that makes for good viewing. If you haven’t seen it, see it. It’s awesome.
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The climactic scene is, appropriately, the best of the film, the dread and tension genuinely well done as the baddies descend on Ryan’s comfortable home – the last safe place he has – in the midst of a stormy night. After the action comes another cozy family scene and a set-up for the next film, 1994’s Clear and Present Danger.
I’m biased. I love this film. The balance of action and all the other elements seems rare these days. There’s little in the way of car chases, fist and bullet fights and the CIA are shown as suited office staff with desktop computers and mountains of paperwork, struggling to make any headway. Neither side is more capable than the other and both make mistakes. Both are fighting, in one way another, for homeland and loved ones. Even the ending looks though it could almost go either way, and that makes for good viewing. If you haven’t seen it, see it. It’s awesome.
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