THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408060052
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
``CLEAR AND Present Danger'' is as intelligent and finely structured as any so-called ``art'' film that might be booked into the Naro. At the same time, it has its share of thrills.
It is the best film adaptation yet of a Tom Clancy novel (even though it does often stray from the plot). Filled with plots and subplots, it is not a film for a casual sit-through.
This tale of back-stabbing politicians and covert connivers is, instead, an engrossing trip through logical plot development. With a budget of $70 million to spend, the film takes you from the Oval Office to the South American jungles with the great help of the Defense Department, the FBI and other agencies.
A top Washington power broker is murdered. A good friend of President Bennett (played as an arrogant poser by Donald Moffat), he also had connections with the Colombian drug cartel. The president wants to distance himself from both. He announces a public campaign against the drug lords, to be led by Jack Ryan - played by none other than Harrison Ford - the man all moviegoers trust. The president's private drug war is financed with secret funds and, while it might be more successful, it is, in fact, illegal. Ford doesn't know that covert money is going into the secret American raiders who are making big trouble for the Colombian billionaire. He soon learns, though, and then he has to make moral judgments. Are the illegal raids justifiable because they are the only way America can fight this threat? The audience, too, has to ponder the question.
Ford is a throwback to the authentic movie star, whose stardom is perhaps more important than his mere performance. Here, he's the kind of guy who may misplace the car keys but, on the other hand, knows the location of every spy satellite in the Western Hemisphere. To prove his vulnerability, he even stumbles and fumbles a bit when he has to lurch through the jungle.
Willem Dafoe, with the long, lean and sinister look, plays Mr. Clark, the covert action guy who leads raids into enemy territory. Henry Czerny and Harris Yulin are chillingly effective as white-collar back-stabbers - the kind who get paid with tax dollars. Joaquim de Almeida is a smoothie Latin who uses women as well as his own wits in an effort to take over the drug cartel. Miguel Sandoval does much to make his role as the drug leader more than just a standard villain.
Anne Archer makes another token appearance as the wife who has little to do other than wave goodbye to husband Ford. Thora Birch, too, is back as the requisite daughter. James Earl Jones returns to recreate the admiral he played in ``Hunt for the Red October.'' Here, he is hospitalized with cancer and has to be replaced by Ford.
The action sequences are doubly effective because they are not plentiful. There is one memorable melee when Ford and his American entourage are trapped in a claustrophobic alley from which there appears no escape. The screeching tires and mad dash are more effective than all the explosions in ``True Lies.''
At more than two hours, ``Clear and Present Danger'' seems much shorter. It has the relentless, forward-moving pitch of a steady page-turner. One wonders if the film will be a commercial hit; after all, it does require a bit of thought. Although complicated, it is never boring. And how else could we get into the Oval Office? ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Harrison Ford stars as Jack Ryan
PARAMOUNT Photo
Harrison Ford stars as the CIA's Jack Ryan in ``Clear and Present
Danger.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``Clear and Present Danger''
Cast: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, James Earl Jones,
Joaquim de Almeida, Henry Czerny, Harris Yulin, Donald Moffat,
Miguel Sandoval, Hope Lange, Dean Jones, Anne Manguson
Director: Phillip Noyce
Screenplay: Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian, John Milius, based
on the novel by Tom Clancy
Music: James Horner
MPAA rating: PG-13 (occasional language, discreet violence,
mature themes)
Mal's rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Locations: Movies 10 in Chesapeake; Main Gate and Janaf in
Norfolk; Commodore in Portsmouth; Kemps River, Lynnhaven Mall,
Pembroke, Surf-N-Sand in Virginia Beach
by CNB