A Guest Review on...

The Sum of All Fears

by BEACHBOMAR (actually Robyn did under Bo's name)

We saw Sum of All Fears the night after it opened and got the last seats in the house. I am no movie critic (professional, anyway), but we went with four other people and talked about the movie at dinner afterward. Here is my take on it (and some general consensus, as well).

First of all, Ben Affleck is no Jack Ryan. He is totally unconvincing in his role as a member of the CIA, and even worse in his "relationship" with his girlfriend. We all agreed that Harrison Ford would have been a better cast. His girlfriend is very cute (don't know who she is) but they have zero chemistry. Totally lame. Come to think of it, Affleck has that type of love interest relationship going in every movie I've seen him in. Anyway, he is more like an intern than a serious player in the CIA.

I did not read the book, but one guy we were with did (he also happens to work in a classified area of the USAF and calls the Pentagon his home away from home). He said the movie is NOTHING like the book, but the portrayal of the ins and outs at the Pentagon as well as with some of the gov't agencies was right on. Our guess is due to recent events, the attack on the US in the movie was asserted by a group of Neo-Nazis and not a Muslim group, as the book originally describes.

Everyone we saw the movie with liked it except for me. While I admit that the nuclear explosion at the Super Bowl was pretty realistic, it personally made me sick and very upset. The director was sure to take the time to show all different walks of life celebrating together, including children with their parents and then show this massive bomb detonating from every angle. Totally disturbing. Had I seen this movie a year ago, it would not have had the same impact on me, and we all agreed that we would have most likely come away saying, "Yeah, right. Like THAT would ever happen!".

Also, they show one scene where the hospital is overtaken with victims burned beyond recognition. I kept thinking of the thousands and thousands of people who were affected by 9/11 and how horrible just that one scene would have been to watch. The way the movie ends, with Russia and the US halting their attacks on each other because Affleck somehow manages to worm his way into a high security area in order to address the Russians and it is literally impossible for anyone to interrupt him...whatever. Totally lame and unrealistic.

The end of course is all blue skies and picnics (literally) with not a shadow of remembrance for this enormous nuclear attack just months prior. I couldn't decide what I disliked more: the fact that the movie never mentioned the thousands of lives lost or that they showed all those people in such a tragic state to begin with.

I realize it is "just a movie", but considering we are just barely nine months past the largest attack on US soil, and so many people are still suffering, as well as the thousands who fear congregating in large public forums, I found this movie to be completely inappropriate. But as someone at our table said afterward, "That's Hollywood for ya'...anything for a buck". [sic]

Addendum 6/14/02

Just FYI, it was me (Robyn) who reviewed Sum of All Fears. I dont know if I signed my email or not. Bo actually agreed with me on several points but he said he liked the movie more than I did. The whole concept of the movie bothered me more than him (must be a girl thing). Just so he doesn't come off as a sissy in the review...you know, since he's such a stud and everything... Thanks! By the way, how cool am I that I made it to the Big Time on Waltertainment.com??!! :)