Patriot Games

Published May 9, 2014

Film info

Title Patriot Games
Director Phillip Noyce
Year 1992
Run time 1hr 57m
Genres Action, Thriller, Drama, Crime
Tagline Not for honour, not for country, for his wife and child

Harrison Ford stars as Jack Ryan in this explosive thriller based on Tom Clancy's international best-seller. His days as an intelligence agent behind him, former CIA analyst Jack Ryan has travelled to London to vacation with his wife and child. Meeting his family outside Buckingham Palace, Ryan is caught in the middle of a terrorist attack and becomes a local hero... but Ryan's courageous act marks him as a target in the sights of the terrorist whose brother he killed.

Live blog

Time	Comment
3:30	He might be able to save nations or whatever, but goldfish are tricky.
7:34	Yay, Sean Bean, professional bad guy.
10:52	That’s some pretty good dead acting.
15:54	I hate that phrase. “You’re either with us or against us.” Totally possible to be not bothered at all.
22:39	He’s only been in the country five minutes and they’re giving him a medal.

[…]

Conclusions

We’ve had a mind to work our way through the Jack Ryan films, having previously watched The Hunt for Red October, and enjoyed it enormously. There’s a new one coming out soon, and although the films aren’t really part of a series that must be watched in order, it felt like the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t grab my attention at all. Half an hour in and I couldn’t stop from admitting I was bored. The scenes felt far too long and drawn out - I’m all for slow burn but the scenes within themselves have to be interesting to start with. Far too much family time, not enough storytelling, presumably because the family come under threat later in the film.

It also felt like watching a TV show, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but we like to watch films that feel like films. It’s hard to put that emotion into words, but suffice to say, we switched off after thirty minutes.

Rating: Unrated.

Rating: Unrated