MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Action Thriller/Stars: Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean, Thora Birch, James Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, Polly Walker, J. E. Freeman, David Threlfall, Alun Armstrong, James Earl Jones, Richard Harris, Hugh Fraser, Bob Gunton/Runtime: 116 minutes
Before I was set to travel overseas to Europe back in the long-ago year (or so it feels like at any rate) of 2019, there were several lessons that I was fortunate enough to have passed along to me in equal measure by friend, family member, and casual yet concerned/fairly knowledgeable about international travel acquaintances. Those being as follows: don’t act like an idiot, be respectful of the cultures you will come into contact with, always wear sunblock, make the most of your time in each place, and above all be very careful about what actions you choose to partake in to say nothing of who you choose to have any sort of interaction with while in the countries you are set to visit. Not just because of the whole “Stranger Danger” craze that my mother lovingly bestowed upon me, but because (also according to her argument) you never know what kind of people you’re truly dealing with and as such you really don’t want it to come back to bite you in the butt in any way later on down the road of life. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this piece of advice however is not the fact that my mother told it to me nor is it the fact that, big surprise coming up here, it actually turned out to be incredibly solid advice that I have utilized in all my travels since and plan to do so for the rest of my days. Rather, it’s the fact that apparently this advice is a 24-karat nugget of wisdom that quite a few slices of cinema have elected, for whatever reason, to choose to conveniently overlook (or straight up ignore altogether). Indeed be it the Hostel franchise showing us how interacting with strangers in Europe could potentially lead to becoming part of some truly despicable activities or Midnight Express “78” making us extremely aware to never engage in the highly illegal action of drug smuggling while overseas (though if you need that reminder to begin with then you should definitely talk to someone about that….) there is no denying that the characters in these movies and others really could’ve done with this lesson being instilled in them even before they began to pack their first bag. Incidentally, the reason I bring this up to you today dear reader is because there is another slice of cinema where the main character should’ve learned this lesson as well. That being the 1992 action thriller, and slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, Patriot Games. A film that, despite one or 5 elements being very much products of when it was made, is still one that I enjoy more than a wee bit immensely. To be sure, it’s not a perfect movie by any means, but with the aid of fairly well-done work on both sides, Patriot Games is still one engaging and entertaining film that is sure to keep you fairly riveted no matter if it’s your 1st or your 23rd time watching it.
The plot is as follows: Based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy (even initially he might not have wanted that to be known), Patriot Games serves as a reintroduction of sorts to a guy by the name of Jack Ryan. A guy who, among other things worth knowing about him as an individual, is a former analyst for the CIA, but who for some time prior to our story has been working for some time as a professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy and who, when our story gets underway, is in jolly ol’ London with his family giving a lecture at the Royal Naval Academy. Yet, it is after the lecture is over that they find themselves caught up in a wee bit of intrigue on the international level. This is because, while on their way to rendezvous with Jack outside the Academy, we see that his wife and daughter pass by a cab. Now normally, you might be thinking that this shouldn’t really be a cause for any kind of international controversy and you would be quite right to think that dear reader. In this case however, not only is the cab in question stolen, but the people inside it are just as nefarious. This is because, as we soon learn, the trio are members of an ultra-radical sect of that infamous group known as the IRA and they are there to ambush and assassinate a member of Britain’s Royal Family. An individual who, if you believe in coincidences, also happens to be traveling in the area where our hero and his family are supposed to be meeting up. Yet when Jack and his family find themselves caught up in the crossfire of this dastardly plot, we see that while our hero first makes sure his own family is safe, he then decides to do something fairly remarkable. Namely he decides to boldly intervene and, in so doing, gets a bullet in the shoulder, but also proves to be heroically successful in thwarting the assassination plot even if most of the group do manage to get away and two lose their lives. Yet whereas for the majority of the group they simply see this as nothing more than a minor setback at best and set themselves about preparing for other illegal activities that’s not entirely the case for one of the people in the group. This is because not only is this individual, a particularly despicable sort calling himself Sean Miller, the member of the group who was arrested at the scene, but even worse his younger brother was one of the operatives killed thereby putting our hero at the top of his “hate enough to kill” list. Thus when Miller is broken out of his prison transport and events start to occur which suggest he is trying to get his vengeance on Ryan and his family, can our hero leap into action once more to protect those he cares about most whatever the cost? That I will leave for you to discover…..
Now right off, it should be noted that the work done behind the camera on this cinematic outing, while by no means perfect, is also more than capable of getting the job done. This starts with the work done from the director’s chair by Phillip Noyce (1989’s Dead Calm, 1999’s The Bone Collector, and 1997’s The Saint among others) and he certainly does a good job here as well. Indeed what makes Noyce’s work here so enjoyable is not only is he able to maintain a fairly consistent tone of chilled suspense and unease to match the mindset of our main character, but also in how he chooses to place more of an emphasis on the psychological battle of wills that exists between Ryan and Miller at the heart of the story rather than trying to shoehorn in as many visceral and bloody action beats as he possibly can respectively. With that in mind though, when the film does give us moments of action including the assassination attempt, a two-fold ambush of the Ryan family back in the States, and a riveting home invasion set piece at the climax we see that Noyce does a terrific job of filming them in such a way that not only do these moments flow incredibly well, but we are always able to thankfully determine which characters are involved and where they are at any given moment during the beats in question. Suffice it to say that yes he can be a wee bit inconsistent as a film helmer, but there is no denying that Noyce does manage to do some really good work here. Alongside the work done by Noyce, this slice of cinema also benefits from a fairly good script as penned by W. Peter Iliff and Donald E. Stewart. No it’s not a spot-on adaptation of the source material by any stretch of the imagination, but even so there is no denying that Iliff and Stewart (who also had a hand in adapting both The Hunt for Red October plus Clear and Present Danger in 1990 and 1994 respectively) do manage to give audiences a fairly faithful take on the source material all things considered. Lastly, this section would be woefully amiss if it didn’t take some time to talk about the work done on this slice of cinema’s musical accompaniment by the late yet great James Horner. Indeed Horner does a wonderful job here at giving this film a score that not only provides a significant degree of pathos, but even does a masterful, and dare I say tasteful, job of incorporating a Irish musical flavor to the mix as well in terms of both conjuring up the overall atmosphere of the film to say nothing of giving a touch of haunting melancholy to the proceedings as well respectively. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in dependable work from the editing department, as headed by the dynamic duo of William Hoy and Neil Travis respectively, and nothing short of brilliant work done by Donald McAlpine (1984’s Harry & Son, 1987’s Predator, and even 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine among others) at the head of this film’s cinematography department respectively it’s clear that this slice of cinema is most assuredly not flawless, but thankfully the work done behind the camera does what it can to help keep things at the very least entertaining.
Alongside the good work done by the various departments behind the camera, this slice of cinema is also one that is aided immensely well courtesy of a collection of equally as good performances in front of the camera by a more than capable cast of talent even if some do feel a wee bit on the underwritten side at times. Without a doubt in my mind, this starts with Harrison Ford (taking over the role from Alec Baldwin) as Jack Ryan and he is terrific here. Indeed what Ford does so well here is, perhaps even better than Baldwin did in Hunt for Red October, really provide the character with an air of down to earth charm to say nothing of relatability that makes him that much more endearing as a hero. Yes you could argue that a significant part of that is because of who Ford is naturally as a person, but even so you can’t deny that Ford brings both of those attributes in a way that feels organic to the character rather than acted in any way. Along with that, we see that Ford also does a great job at bringing a resourcefulness, an intellect, and even a vulnerability at points to the character that help to both make him a surprisingly human action hero (unlike some of 007’s missions where he just turns into a virtual one-man army) whilst also making him someone who is worth rooting for throughout the movie. Indeed it’s a fairly solid turn and one that Ford would later refine and prove to be even better in during his 2nd portrayal of the character in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger respectively In any remotely good entry in the action thriller genre however, the hero is often only as good as the villain that they find themselves squaring off against. Thankfully, this slice of cinema remembered that distinct lesson and provides us as an audience with a fairly effective turn here from Sean Bean (Ned Stark from Game of Thrones) as Sean Miller. Yes, the character doesn’t have much in the way of dialogue, but even so Bean does a really good job here of letting this character’s ruthless actions and his emotions, with particular regard to his homicidal rage and dogged desire for vengeance toward our hero and his family, speak for him in a manner that is both more effective and even chilling than if he was the chance to fully explain his motivations for the actions he takes throughout the film. Lastly, I feel like this section would be woefully incomplete if I didn’t take some time in it to praise the work done by screen veterans Richard Harris (Dumbledore in the first 2 Harry Potter movies) and James Earl Jones (reprising his role from Hunt for Red October) respectively. Indeed in regards to the former, we see that Harris does a wonderful, albeit underutilized, job at bringing an intriguing degree of moral ambiguity to his 20-25 minutes of screentime whereas with the latter, we see that Jones (as is usual for him) brings a delightful degree of no-nonsense authority yet with the right amount of fairness and decency once again to the role of Ryan’s mentor James Greer. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in welcome efforts from such talents as Anne Archer (Fatal Attraction from 1987), Thora Birch (the first Hocus Pocus), Patrick Bergin (Sleeping with the Enemy from 1991), James Fox (Veruca Salt’s dad in the 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory adaptation), J.E. Freeman, Hugh Fraser, Samuel L. Jackson, and even Bob Gunton (Warden Samuel Norton from The Shawshank Redemption) among others it’s clear that this film might not be an entirely flawless affair, but even so the performances given by this cast certainly do help keep it engaging from beginning to end.
All in all and at the end of the day is Patriot Games a perfect and flawless slice of cinema in practically every way known to the universe? Sadly as much as I would like to answer that question in the affirmative I am afraid that is not the case though not for lack of effort on the part of either cast or crew respectively. With that in mind, does this make the worst film done by any of the creative talents involved in the making of it? Thankfully, for both my sanity as well as my inner peace of mind, I can most assuredly confirm that too is not the case. To be sure, this slice of cinema is one that definitely has a few issues to it with particular regard to the fact that certain beats within the story are predictable as well as the fact that the vast majority of the characters (for as good as they are brought to life) do feel a wee bit on the underwritten side just to name a few examples. With that said however, there is also no denying that the work done at the helm is solid albeit unspectacular, the script is fairly well-written, the cinematography is truly stunning, the few action beats that this slice of cinema does manage to contain are genuinely gripping, the film’s musical accompaniment is phenomenal (though I can definitely understand why it might have rubbed some people the wrong way), and the performances given by the undeniably talented cast in front of the camera (with particular regard to the ones given by Ford, Bean, Archer, Harris, and Jones) are all really well-done and everyone involved makes the most of however much screentime they are given regardless of, as previously mentioned, however underwritten they are. Suffice it to say that if you are looking for a truly impeccable in every way action thriller then it is my express belief that you check out this film’s predecessor in the form of The Hunt for Red October from 1990 since I definitely feel that is a more than slightly superior outing to this one in a lot of respects. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for a fairly solid, taut, and engaging action thriller that is definitely good for watching on a rainy day or when you just want something to watch for a couple of hours before proceeding to go about the rest of your day then definitely give this film a try. As for my thoughts, be they good or bad, in regards to the sequel to this film which takes the shape and form of 1994’s Clear and Present Danger however I think it best to say it like this: all good things to those who wait. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Patriot Games “92” a solid 3.5 out of 5.
