Taglines: Intelligence is a weapon.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is an American action thriller film, directed by and co-starring Kenneth Branagh. Chris Pine, Kevin Costner and Keira Knightley star in leading roles. The film features the fictional Jack Ryan character created by author Tom Clancy. It is the fifth film in the Jack Ryan series but is presented as a reboot that departs from the previous installments. Unlike its predecessors, it is not an adaptation of a particular Clancy novel, but rather an original story. Pine stars in the title role, becoming the fourth actor to play Ryan, following Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck.
The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios Skydance Productions, di Bonaventura Productions, Mace Neufeld Productions, Buckaroo Entertainment, Etalon Film and Translux. Theatrically, it was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was released on January 17, 2014. In the home-video market, the film was released in Blu-ray disc format on June 10.
About the Story
After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Jack Ryan (Pine), studying at the London School of Economics, becomes a US Marine second lieutenant fighting in Afghanistan, where his spine is critically injured when his helicopter is shot down. During a lengthy recovery, he attracts the attention of Cathy Muller (Knightley), the medical student helping him learn to walk again, and Thomas Harper (Costner), an official with the CIA who recruits him.
Ten years later, Ryan is working on Wall Street with a cover job as a compliance officer at a stock brokerage, and as a covert CIA analyst, looking for suspect financial transactions that would indicate terrorist activity. When the Russian Federation loses a key vote before the United Nations, Ryan notices that the markets do not respond in the expected way. He discovers that trillions of dollars held by Russian organizations have disappeared. A large number of these funds are controlled by Viktor Cherevin (Branagh), a Russian tycoon.
Ryan’s employer conducts business with Cherevin, so when Ryan discovers certain accounts are inaccessible to him as auditor, he has reason to visit Moscow and investigate. On arrival he narrowly survives a murder attempt by an assassin posing as his bodyguard. Ryan sends an SOS and is surprised to learn his backup is Harper. During their debrief, Ryan explains how Cherevin’s shadow investments could make the United States vulnerable to complete financial collapse following a staged terrorist attack, which would also weaken global markets.
At his meeting with Cherevin the next day, he is told that the problem company and all of its assets have been sold, thus preventing Ryan’s audit. Meanwhile, Muller, now Ryan’s fiancée, concerned he may be having an affair, secretly flies to Moscow to meet him. Against protocol for unmarried couples, Ryan reveals that he works for the CIA, to her great relief. Improvising on the situation, Harper has Muller agree to be included in a plan to infiltrate Cherevin’s offices. Ryan and Muller meet Cherevin at an upscale restaurant across the street from Cherevin’s office. Over dinner, Ryan causes a scene and purposely insults Muller. Excusing himself, he gains access to Cherevin’s office where he downloads critical corruption files.
Ryan and the CIA discover Cherevin used a falsified death certificate to place his son, Aleksandr (Utgoff), in the United States as a sleeper agent. Ryan uses his talent for pattern recognition to locate Aleksandr’s hideout and intended target, Wall Street. He locates a fake police response vehicle driven by Aleksandr and gives chase. After Ryan catches up and engages in a physical confrontation with Aleksandr, he discovers the bomb in the rear of the police decoy. Unable to defuse it, he hijacks the vehicle with Aleksandr in it. He later crashes it into the East River while simultaneously jumping out, as the bomb detonates, killing Aleksandr.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, David Paymer, Karen David
Screenplay by: Adam Cozad, David Koepp
Production Design by: Andrew Laws
Cinematography by: Haris Zambarloukos
Film Editing by: Martin Walsh
Costume Design by: Jill Taylor
Set Decoration by: Judy Farr
Music by: Patrick Doyle
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language.
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: January 17, 2014
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