Premise - In 1978 an Israeli jet carrying a nuclear bomb crashes over Syria. Fast forward to the present day and the bomb is uncovered and sold on the black market. Meanwhile CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck) is on a trip to Russia checking on their nuclear disarmament, but three of the Russian nuclear technicians are missing. Could their disappearance be connected to the newly discovered nuclear weapon? The Sum Of All fears is a superior political thriller that has added resonance given the attacks on New York and Washington last September. That's not to say that the film trades on last years events to get bums on seats. The film was in production long before last September and it merely an unfortunate coincidence that the plot of the film shares so many parallels with 9/11. Outside of real life connotations, The Sum Of All Fears is an excellent bit of tension filled entertainment. Director Phil Alden Robinson has created a film that brims to bursting point with building tension up till the movie's (shocking) highlight. Even after this high point the film continues to rack up the tension in a thrilling game of mental chess between the respective US and Russian governments. Those who have seen Robinson's previous film 'Sneakers' will be well aware of his talent for building a sense of foreboding and tension. His approach is perfect for this film and is one of the main reasons that it's so effecting. Another of the reasons that I enjoyed the film so much is the central performance by Ben Affleck. Affleck's take on Ryan is different from both Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin and for my money is the best incarnation. Affleck's Ryan is (at the start of the movie) a lowly CIA analyst and is nowhere near the high ranking official that Ford and Baldwin portrayed. This is for me a lot more interesting, as this Ryan has to battle to be heard and cut through barriers of red tape that the other versions could bypass with ease. I was quite impressed with Affleck whom has grown into quite a versatile actor. He can turn his hand to almost anything, comedy, period drama, thrillers and screenwriting are all talents that he can boast. Affleck is joined by the ever impressive Morgan Freeman. Freeman can do these kind of parts in his sleep and he brings an air of distinction to the proceedings. The rest of the cast are equally impressive. James Cromwell it seems was born to play the president and the scenes with his cabinet are outstanding. You get the sense during these scenes when they are all shouting and arguing that they are real people, it's a nice touch that I enjoyed. Cromwell's cabinet is made up of some of the finest character actors in the business today. The sublime Phillip Baker Hall standing out amongst others like Ron Rifkin. I also enjoyed Liev Schrieber as a shady, black ops operative. A part previously played by Willem Dafoe. Paul Attanasio's script is intelligent, but when you have source material like a Tom Clancy novel to work with anything other than intelligent would be unthinkable. Clancy's intimate knowledge of both the inner workings of the US government and tactical warfare give his books, films and video games a feeling of authenticity that other writers and film-makers struggle to recreate. His knowledge adds to the realism of the film tenfold and I feel the film would have been a poorer proposition without his involvement. In saying that though some of the plot points don't bear up to close scrutinisation (perhaps changes made from the original book in order to keep the running time down?) and like Minority Report, the film suffers from an unnecessary coda that is in poor taste considering the events that have transpired earlier in the film. If you can suspend belief long enough to forgive the plot holes and poor ending then you will find yourself watching an entertaining, tension filled and intelligent political thriller. I hope that we can see more of Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan.

7/10 for The Sum Of All Fears. Poster Quote - Affleck is the bomb.