No, it's not nominated for anything. Don't worry, the Oscar posts are coming, but I promised Rob I'd see this with him.Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is a student at the London School of Economics when 9/11 happens. He immediately joins the Marines and is commissioned as a lieutenant. His helicopter is shot down over Afghanistan, ending his military career, but allowing him to meet med student Kathy (Keira Knightley). During his recovery, he is approached by CIA officer Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) and offered a job. Fast forward ten years and Ryan is working in Wall Street, monitoring overseas accounts and sending information to the CIA. He notices that a Russian client (Kenneth Branagh) has been hiding massive currency transactions and travels to Moscow to investigate.
I kind of wish they hadn't decided to go with Tom Clancy's character. I get that updating the background allows them to make Jack Ryan younger, allowing more time for Chris Pine to hopefully anchor a franchise but this just didn't feel like a Jack Ryan story. It seemed like a generic spy movie that had been dumbed down in order to spend more time on its three stars.
For instance, at some point Jack and Kathy are out to dinner with Cherevin, the bad guy. They pretend-fight so Kathy can keep Cherevin occupied while Jack breaks into his office and hacks his computer. Because the CIA could only afford to send one agent to Moscow? And he had to ask his girlfriend for help? No, it's because Chris Pine and Keira Knightley are gorgeous people and you want them on screen for as much of the running time as possible. This is a business decision, not a story one.
Thing is, it's not a terrible movie. I found myself tensing up during the action scenes, which is exactly how you should feel. Pine is very charismatic and fully worthy of leading roles. Knightley's American accent has gotten much better, and Kenneth Branagh does a good evil Russian. I wish the story had lived up to the acting.
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