A tale of deception and lies that go all the way to the top (Clear And Present Danger (DVD))

Member Name: Pamsy

Product:	Clear And Present Danger (DVD)
Date:	09/08/01 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gripping, Great complex plot

Disadvantages: Not long enough, too much missed out, Ford's acting was not his best

When the U.S. Coast Guard intercepts a derelict yacht floating in American waters, it discovers that it was the scene of a grisly set of murders. The victim was a prominent businessman and his family, all personal friends of U.S. President Bennett (Donald Moffat). Bennett is shocked and angry, particularly when investigation proves the murdered man had financial ties to Columbian drug lords. Bennett hints to his security advisors that the time has come to start striking back against the Columbian drug families. And the action taken and its results are the heart of this story.

Tom Clancy's bestseller has Jack Ryan acting as Head of the CIA when his mentor Admiral Greer falls prey to cancer. On his watch, the President of the United States orders a covert operation to attack some South American druglords responsible for a friend's death. Ryan, who swears before Congress not to engage in covert action, must choose between loyalty and integrity.

Jack Ryan finds himself in the wrong place, standing between the U.S. President and some Columbian cocaine cartels, specifically Joaquim de Almeida and Miguel Sandoval. As the subordinates of the naive President realise a war against an invisible Army cannot be won, they enter secret dealings with a high up individual of the cartel, offering to give away the positions of the small elite infiltration force operating in the cartel's backyard. The member of the cartel is operating behind his boss's back, as is the CIA agent. As Ryan gets wind of this, he personally gets involved in a desperate attempt to beat the Cartel to the American Commandos and secure their fate. From here on, things get very dramatic, as more and more tails of deception and greed ensue in this dog eat dog world - Ryan stuck in between two corrupt forces, the commandos acting as nothing more than trading cards. What you thought were bad guys become good guys, and some good guys turn out not to be so good afterall in this amaz
ing sequel.

The directing is amazing, and the soundtrack is awesome, building suspence at all the right moments.

Towards the end the action becomes a little less intelligent and a little more action-orientated. In a way, what shapes up to be an amazing film has a bit of a rubbish end. It all seems to finish quickly after such a complex plot. I haven't read the book, but apparently the film misses lots out.

Certainly I believe at 2 hours and 16 minutes this film is just too short. Such a complex plot develops, lies and deception begin to unfold, then there's a burst of action and it's over. Don't get me wrong, this is a great film, but it could have gone on another 45 minutes, perhaps even another hour, provided the rest of the film was as gripping. I'd have happily sat and watched this for over 3 hours if it was all of the quality of the 2 hours 16 minutes we were given. The potential was always there, the action scene at the end shouldn't have been as short, and the race for the commandos could have had us in suspense for a lot longer than it did.

For this reason, I can only give this film 4 stars, missing the full score due to getting its priorities wrong, and skipping through a potentially amazing part of the film.

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