An up-and-coming CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, is thrust into a dangerous field assignment as he uncovers a pattern in terrorist communication that launches him into the center of a dangerous gambit.
Author Tom Clancy had expressed his frustrations over the years with the big-screen adaptations of his books, and in 1992 with the release of “Patriot Games,” he had no qualms stating publicly that he disowned the movie and that of the over 200 scenes in the finished film, “only one corresponds with my book.” Hollywood is notorious for adapting novels into movies only to discard important elements from the book and while that is understandable, to a degree, given that a book might be several hundred pages long and has to be condensed into a 2-hour runtime, it’s only natural for many authors to disown the big-screen renderings of their written word. Tom Clancy did it with “Patriot Games,” Stephen King with “The Shining,” P.L. Travers with “Mary Poppins,” Richard Matheson with “I Am Legend,” and Roald Dahl with “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
With Clancy’s untimely passing in 2013, it’s a pity he never got to see Amazon Prime’s small-screen undertaking because it goes back to the beginning of Jack Ryan’s career inside the CIA and builds upward from there. With all of the Jack Ryan films, Ryan was already well established as a CIA analyst and while Kenneth Branagh’s “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” attempted to reboot the series by introducing us to a younger Ryan, played by Chris Pine, audiences were tired of the character and the movie flopped.
“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” is an original story which starts at the very beginning of Ryan’s (John Krasinski) career, while he is still a financial analyst inside the walls of Langley. Unlike the movie versions where Ryan and his boss James Greer were also good friends, here, the show introduces us to both men as they first get to know each other, and things don’t go smoothly. Greer (Wendell Pierce) has been demoted to the head of Ryan’s department and both men clash but over the course of the show, they gain a newfound appreciation for each other as they recognize their strengths and weaknesses. They are hot on the trail of a Middle-Eastern terrorist who coordinates a sarin gas attack on a church full of people in Paris but as they continue to follow his trail, they realize he has bigger plans for an attack on American soil.
The movie adaptations showed an established relationship between Ryan and Greer but also between Ryan and his wife Cathy, played here by Abbie Cornish. With both Greer and Cathy, we are introduced to both of them at the same time Ryan becomes acquainted with them and because this is a TV show, it allows for more character development than a two-hour movie and is truly welcomed. Watching Ryan and Greer start off as argumentative and bitter colleagues is worth the payoff as we gradually see them come to understand and eventually respect each other. John Krasinski is absolutely perfect as Ryan. While some might argue that Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, or even Chris Pine are the quintessential Jack Ryan, I would have to disagree and put Krasinski at the top of the list, with Harrison Ford a close second. Over the course of eight episodes, Krasinski shows his cerebral side but is always up to the challenge when duty comes calling.
While the action setpieces are exhilarating, I’ve always loved watching the behind-the-scenes proceedings concerning much of the CIA’s high-tech, state-of-the-art weaponry and in one exciting scene, a drone pilot watches from his station in Nevada as a young woman in Syria is about to be raped and against orders, uses the drone to help her out. The show carefully balances Ryan’s personal and professional life until we come to the finale where both worlds collide. Boasting a top-notch cast, it’s always great to see a series shoot on location instead of using green screen backgrounds and here, Ryan and co. travel around the world from CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia to Paris and Morocco. By the end of the season, it wraps up everything nicely and leaves you wanting more, and come August 31st, you’ll get that wish when Season 2 premieres on Amazon Prime.
“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Season One” will be available on Blu-ray & DVD June 4th
