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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

2014 | Action, Drama, Mystery

7.2

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

This is not your father’s Jack Ryan; but it should’ve been.
Chris Pine stars as the famed Jack Ryan in this reboot of the character. We open the movie with Ryan

attending school in London on the day many won’t soon forget: September 11, 2001. The events

this day push Ryan into enlisting in the Marines and we join him 3 years later where we see Ryan in

a helicopter with some brothers-in-arms. It doesn’t take long for the helo to be shot down, but not

without Ryan becoming a hero. After extensive rehab from a broken spine, Mr. Ryan is approached by

Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) to join the CIA as an analyst.

This intro to the movie was short. But what lacks in length it makes up for in the eloquence in which

it delivers the back story for Jack Ryan, thus setting up a whole new franchise and getting new viewers

ready for the ride. After this intro, we flash forward 10 years later to find Ryan working on Wall Street,

but he’s undercover and is an analyst for the CIA. He is with his one-time physical therapist, Cathy

Muller (Keira Knightley), and he discovers the details of a planned economic attack against the USA.

It isn’t long before he is whisked away to Russia to do some wet work, and he bumbles into the life

of a field agent facing off against the mastermind of the villainy in the film, Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth

Branagh).

Some may find that the movie lacks the quick-paced, non-stop action that we have seen from spy

movies these days (including the famous 007), but it does keep a good pace and puts an intelligent story

line on the screen and actually entices the audience to think, all the while including some action for the

adrenaline-junkies.

Pine plays a very believable Jack Ryan. He portrays a character that is more closely linked to Tom

Clancy’s original stories and vision for the character than even Harrison Ford did in Patriot Games (which

I thought was an excellent movie). He nailed the bumbling analyst-turned-field-agent in such a way that

you’d believe it was really his personality. They explain his ability to handle himself with the military

background so expertly set up at the beginning of the movie. Adding Costner to the cast was a stroke

of genius as he plays the mentor/superior part extremely well, but he wasn’t in the film so much as

to distract from the focus of Ryan. Branagh (who also directed the film) played an excellent Russian

adversary to Ryan, who was nothing short of a genius in the way he delivered his character’s stoic

responses and reactions.

If I had to name one gripe with the movie, which believe me was no small feat, it was the Cathy

Muller character. Don’t get me wrong, the character was amazing and Knightley did an admirable job

portraying her. I just felt that she seemed to accept things that most people would question a little too

quickly, and without any reservation.

Other than that, the movie rocked. The action scenes were gripping and the actual story-line was

intelligent. The best thing is that story was plausible. It was not over the top or wildly impossible in the

real world. The scary part is just that. The plot of this movie could actually happen. I would definitely

recommend checking it out in theaters, and it most certainly made my “gotta buy it on bluray” list.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Limitless (2011) in Movies

Aug 7, 2019

Limitless (2011)

2011 | Mystery, Sci-Fi

6.5

(17 Ratings)

Movie Rating

After years of hearing women saying this I can now agree that Bradley Cooper does indeed have beautiful eyes. If you don’t believe me go see his new movie Limitless based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. The movie has so many close-ups of Bradley’s face that you find yourself staring into these blue orbs of beauty, approximately 6 feet across, that utterly mesmerize you and take you to a peaceful place where mice, cats and dogs get along.

But enough about his incredibly enchanting eyes let’s talk about the movie.

The thriller Limitless is about an unemployed struggling writer Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) who, after being dumped by his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish), bumps into his ex-brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth). After talking over a few beers, Vernon realizes that Eddie needs help and gives him one pill of a supposedly FDA-approved, soon-to-be-released brain boosting drug called NZT. Eddie is skeptical but upon returning to his apartment building he tries the pill. And. It. Is. Awesome!

The drug allows a person to access every bit of information locked away in their brain. It gets all the neurons in their brain kicked into high gear, allows them to learn anything very quickly, makes a person more focused, perceptive, confident, driven and gives them a boost of energy. So when Eddie takes the NZT pill (close up) he helps his landlord’s attractive wife write her term paper, sleeps with her, cleans his apartment (close up) and writes a good chunk of his book for his publisher (close up). The next morning he is back to his normal self, so he goes to Vernon for more pills, events happen and Eddie ends up with a lot more pills plus a large sum of money.

With the help of NZT he begins to turn his life around. He finishes his book, gets in shape, gets a haircut, still not clean-shaven though (don’t look at the stubble, look at his eyes), learns new things, makes new friends, has lots of nooky (because women dig smart guys), travels and multiple close ups. But soon he realizes that he wants to do something meaningful with his life. As he works to achieve his dream and also get back with his ex-girlfriend, he crosses paths with a mysterious man, Russian mobster Gennady (Andrew Howard), shifty lawyers, police, corporate fat cats like Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), gets more random close ups and soon starts running out of pills. Will he do something meaningful with his life? Will he jump off of a building? Can his dreamy eyes get any bluer?

Right from the start the movie grabs your attention by throwing you into the action (and blue eyes) and it gently holds it in a soft blue embrace until the end. The movie has an intelligent and, at the appropriate times, humorous dialogue that flowed very smoothly and naturally. Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper definitely brought their A game (Bradley’s eyes A+) and their on-screen chemistry is one of the best I have seen. Both Abbie Cornish and Andrew Howard were great throughout the film but each of them had their own individual scenes where they really shined. There are some plot holes but they do not detract from this very enjoyable film.