Former Marine Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) works as an analyst for the CIA, tracking all sorts of suspicious banking transactions. Well, you know, tedious and routine work: you sit at a computer and pick numbers. However, Jack, analyzing various information, discovered a suspicious person named Suleiman (Ali Suliman), to whom various threads lead.
At some point, a new boss is appointed to his department – James Greer (Wendell Pierce). Rumor has it that Greer is a tough combat operative: he was the chief of station in Karachi, but he had a serious fuck-up somewhere, and now Greer was exiled to sit his pants in the analyst department.
James is initially hostile towards Jack, but quickly finds out that Ryan was right about this Suleiman, and on the very first evening after their meeting, Greer suggests that Ryan fly to Yemen: there, on a tip from Jack and James, special agents have already arrested some people, which were highlighted during the blocking of a suspicious account allegedly belonging to Suleiman.
From this moment, the confrontation between Griir and Ryan and Suleiman begins. Because Suleiman conceived a TERRIBLE!
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Tom Clancy is an American writer, author of a series of novels about former Marine, and now CIA analyst Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan first appeared with Clancy in The Hunt for Red October in 1984. Based on the novel, a film of the same name was made in 1990, in which Ryan was played by Alec Baldwin, and the captain of the Banned country submarine was portrayed by Sean Connory.
The second screened novel about Jack Ryan is Patriot Games. There, Ryan saves the Prince of Wales from Irish terrorists. Ryan was played by Harrison Ford in the 1992 film of the same name.
The novel “A Clear and Clear Danger”: Admiral Greer, CIA deputy intelligence officer, falls ill, Ryan acts as deputy director of the CIA, fights against Colombian drug lords and the betrayal of adviser Cutter. In the film (1994), Ryan was again played by Harrison Ford.
The novel “All the Fears of the World”: terrorists with a nuclear bomb lost by the Israeli Air Force (here are the bunglers) are trying to provoke a war between the USSR and the USA. They almost succeed, but the brave Ryan directly contacts the Soviet President Narmonov and prevents the massacre. In the film of the same name (2002), Ben Affleck starred as Ryan. The picture collected a decent box office, but it has a very low rating, and criticism has trampled on it.
After that, they stopped making films based on Clancy – for ten years. In 2013, the film “Jack Ryan: Chaos Theory” was released on the screens, which had no direct relation to Clancy’s novels, some of his characters were simply used there. It’s something like the “Police Academy in Moscow”: Jack Ryan in Moscow is fighting with the alcoholic oligarch Viktor Cherevin, who, on the instructions of the party and government, is going to plunge America into chaos. The picture was directed by Kenneth Branagh, Ryan was played by Chris Pine, at the box office it failed with a wild crash, and only the lazy did not scold her. But to the credit of the picture, it should be noted that it really was as bad as the critics claimed.
However, five years later, for some reason, Jack Ryan was remembered again – well, you understand, there are not so many interesting characters. And here is a fighting guy, while brainy – there is where to turn around, and even on the series.
As in the previous time, this whole story no longer had anything to do with Clancy’s novels, except for a few names and the fact that Jack Ryan is a former Marine and now an analyst teaching. By the way, it seems that in Clancy’s second novel, Ryan taught history after the army and only then got a job at the CIA.
The entire first season is built on the confrontation between Ryan and Griir against Suleiman, who has dug in in Syria and is preparing all sorts of tricks for France and America. There is also a separate line of Suleiman’s wife Khanin (Dina Shikhabi): she and her two daughters managed to escape from Suleiman’s fortress and terrible adventures await them on the road.
Well, all sorts of flashbacks with Suleiman and his brother are periodically shown, which tell how pain and sorrow settled in the hearts of these noble gentlemen, because of which they are now ready to do something terrible with hundreds of thousands of innocent people, because Suleiman must declare himself.
All this is set quite cheerfully and with the same vigorous disregard for any, even the most primitive logic. Why all of a sudden the head of the analytics department with some small analyst fly to Yemen to interrogate people associated with Suleiman, and then this sweet couple – I’m talking about Greer and Ryan – wander around all of Europe and the Middle East for months, almost single-handedly tracking this terrorist and his accomplices, – these are the questions in this series it is better not to ask.
I will ask the rest of the questions regarding the logic of what is happening in PS – so as not to spoil for those who are going to watch this series.
And here we will talk about the production and acting work. John Krasinski as Ryan personally did not appeal to me. And it’s not about how similar or different he is to Clancy’s Jack Ryan – that just doesn’t give a damn about it. They tried to keep the idea in the series that Ryan is all so smart and analytical and that he solves any riddles with the power of his intellect.
In the series, the power of Ryan’s intellect somehow did not particularly manifest itself, but this, of course, is a question for the writers, not Krasinski. But here’s the image of Ryan – he was missing something. Nice romantic boy Jim Halpert from The Office – yes, his image is one hundred percent. Jack Ryan in this series – something is not right, did not match.
Wendell Pierce as Greer also failed to turn around. And he also did not pull on a tough operative. At the very beginning, he seemed to demonstrate a cool character, and I thought that it would be interesting further – but no, after that they wandered around Europe and the Middle East with Ryan and nothing interesting and remarkable was found in their relationship.
Here, in the role of a Rabelaisian lawyer in Force Majeure, Pierce was interesting and bright. And here – somehow completely without brilliance.
Ali Suliman in the role of Suleiman – well, more or less colorful, but I did not see any terrorist fanatic there. Walks back and forth, something stirs. But even according to the script, he is exactly a fanatic, and in the last episode he personally went to work, although, it would seem, he himself should go there for a fig? Well, Ryan and Griir will shoot his people – well, he will pick up new ones and start some kind of trick.
However, the creators of the series no longer needed Suleiman, because Ryan was assigned to Moscow at the very end. So in the second season, apparently, there will be both President Volodin and FSB director Roman Talanov. (More on that below.)
The line with Suleiman Khanin’s wife and her wanderings with her daughters is well-posed, but the scriptwriters, at least for the sake of interest, should have figured out how the relationship between a wife and her husband is built in the Arab Muslim world. Especially when the husband is a sheikh. And when watching the series, there is a feeling that we are shown the relationship of an ordinary American family, it just looks ridiculous. Well, I’m already silent about the fact that an Arab woman meets all her terrible wanderings in carefully applied makeup and with false eyelashes. However, these are purely cinematic conventions, and I ask the honorable court to disregard this claim.
Also, the scriptwriters tried to catch up with the footage and inserted a tearful line of the American military there, who is watching Syria from a satellite and with the help of a drone destroys everyone who is pointed to him, and then his conscience, like, wakes up – this was all such nonsense from the beginning and to the end (there, especially, the ending of this story struck with its utter idiocy), which Bublik and I actually applauded: we became interested in what kind of mushrooms these screenwriters use?
What is the result? To be honest, I didn’t really like it. In fact, I didn’t like it at all. I watched it already out of a sense of duty and because I never write reviews of TV shows in which I have not watched at least the full first season.
But I can’t help but note that it was shot more or less cheerfully, you won’t be bored at all, and they didn’t stint on special effects: it’s clear that the series is not at all cheap. I was also glad for the level of respect of any gangster rabble for two Americans with guns: Ryan and Greer showed up at the smugglers who were transporting people from Turkey, bullied there with might and main, shot Suleiman’s people, and the smugglers in response expressed respect and respect to them – after all, authority is high Americans in Turkey is very high.
In general, I was expecting somehow a more serious level, to be honest. However, the series has a very high rating, it was renewed for a second season even before the first was shown, so, apparently, it has its own audience and this approach is quite suitable for them – keep this in mind. And all these absurdities were very striking to me, and the roles of the main characters were not at all impressed.
By the way, have you read The Last Resort by Tom Clancy and Mark Greney, released, I emphasize, in 2013? There is an interesting story, I quote the synopsis:
PS Now let’s talk about what I didn’t like about the script – there will be spoilers. Above, I have already mentioned why the head of the analytical department and the analyst of the department, it is not clear from what hangover, suddenly become operatives, and completely independent. Couldn’t they have come up with something more realistic?
However, the most muddy story in the plot is with this Suleiman. We are told about how, as children, Suleiman and his brother survived an Israeli air raid in Lebanon. Then they find themselves in the glorious city of Paris. Where at least Suleiman receives a fair education. He goes to look for work, and his – ah! – not accepted anywhere. Because he is a bitch, an Arab. It’s in Paris, where they’ll soon stop hiring because you’re french, bitch!
After that, they show the story of how Suleiman’s brother bought a gun from someone, walks around Paris with this gun, and he and Suleiman smoke dope. The police are trying to tie them up, and Suleiman, in order to divert attention from his brother, attacks the police. And these vile infidels, you see, put Suleiman in prison. What a shame! And in prison, he met some Islamists, so now he is all an Islamist and will cruelly take revenge on the infidels.
And what, you ask, next? And then nothing! Further editing: hop – and he is already Suleiman, a sheikh and a millionaire who has gathered his small army and will kill people in France and America. Why all of a sudden? This was not told. Well, just, you know, kitty was offended and will now wet everyone. How touching! What a deep insight into the motives of the hero’s behavior, just five points!
Jack Ryan movie meaning
Director:
Carlton Cuse, Graham Roland
Cast:
Abbie Cornish, John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, John Hoogenakker, Ali Suliman, Dina Shihabi, Haaz Sleiman, Karim Zein, Emmanuel Lussier Martinez, Jovan Adepo
Series, USA, 2018, 60 min.