Precisely one interesting scene—Jack Ryan staring in fascination/horror as he watches a spy satellite feed of an SAS strike force assaulting an IRA training camp he ID’d—and then a whole lotta Harrison-Ford-90s-Movie white noise. (The Fugitive seems to be the one notable exception during this career lull.) Granted, Jack Ryan’s never been all that exciting of a protagonist, his (dubious) selling point being “He’s an analyst, not an action hero!”, despite constantly being thrown in action hero situations. But journeyman director Phillip Noyce lacks the zhuzh needed to make any of it visually or narratively compelling, resulting in a very stodgy, grey film with very stodgy, grey characters making very stodgy, grey decisions. The only exception is Sean Bean, who acts like such a goddamn irrational useless lunatic he essentially gets everyone in his organization killed and then is impaled on a boat anchor by an analyst. Scintillating thriller cinema, this is not.

$3 if you remembered Samuel Jackson is in Patriot Games.