For once, Morgan Freeman isn't playing the US President in this rather run of the mill, political apocalypse film. He's actually the CIA director "Cabot" who is working with an analyst "Jack Ryan" (Ben Affleck) to try and thwart a cunning plan to detonate a recently stolen nuclear explosive in the United States so he can start an all out war with Russia. The fascists behind the scheme know full well that any such disaster will put the pressure on "Pres. Fowler" (James Cromwell) to counter-attack the newly installed Russian "Pres. Nemerov" (the dreadfully wooden Ciaran Hinds) and that all of their advisors will be suggesting a kill or be killed philosophy. The aftermath of the explosion further complicates matters for "Ryan" as he struggles to get to the truth, and then to get that to the authorities before all hell breaks loose. The story here works well enough but the casting is distinctly under-par. Freeman does as he alway does, as does Cromwell but Affleck is rather out of his depth with his more substantial role. He is just a bit too light-weight - regardless of how many cuts and bruises the make up folks give him - to step into the shoes of Alex Baldwin or even Harrison Ford with this more cerebral character. There are some decent pyrotechnics and for a while at the end there is a decent bit of tension, but it takes far too long to get the pieces together and though still quite a chilling assessment of just how destructive military might can be, it's just all a bit wordy and flat.
