With all the election excitement this year, I was completely glued to CNN. And after that week long hoo-ha surrounding Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin etc etc, I had no idea what to do with my life. Let’s face it, there’s nothing more dramatic in politics than the US election, so I turned to movies to help me.
Patriot Games seemed pretty dramatic by the sound of its synopsis. Sure, it was going to be nothing on the Tr*mp/Biden drama (which I’m sure will itself be transformed into a feature film at some point in the near future), but it was all CIA and covert ops sounding, so at least there would be a fraction of the excitement involved. The movie centres on Harrison Ford as a CIA Analyst named Jack Ryan (no, not that one) who interferes with an IRA attack when he and his family are visiting the UK. As a result, the criminals become involved in a cat and mouse chase with Ryan, following him back to The States in order to exact their revenge.
Firstly, I just have to get one minor tidbit out of the way. There’s a lot of sexual tension between Harrison Ford and Sean Bean in this, right? …RIGHT?! It can’t just be me. And if you’ve not seen Patriot Games yet, watch closely. Actually, you won’t even need to watch closely because it’s blindingly obvious.
As someone who knows very little about the IRA but a considerable amount about the CIA (seriously, one of my favourite books is The Rise and Decline of the CIA by John Ranelagh) this was super interesting to me. Obviously you shouldn’t take this film like a history book because it’s most likely extremely inaccurate, but at least it provides some insight into what was going on back then, and if you know next to nothing – like me – it’s actually really helpful!
The movie itself is all very cheesy and 90s, but that only makes it all the more charming. It’s all just a bit dirty looking, you know what I mean? Very nineties action flick indeed, and it least it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
In regards to plot, it’s not unlike most other action movies. Hero, villain, CIA, undercover bad guys, guns, courtroom drama… it’s all here and you’ve seen it all before. It is still entertaining though for most of the run time, even if it’s far from original.
Performances here are varied in success, but there are some bright stars. Personally, I don’t even care if Sean Bean’s Irish accent is questionable, he’s brilliant in this movie. And Harrison Ford plays the same dashing, heroic guy as usual, but he’s wonderful at it so why change perfection? The supporting cast all do an above average job too, though none of them are particularly memorable outside of the leads.
All in all, not dissimilar to said performances, it’s pretty forgettable. But there are worse ways to spend a Thursday afternoon than watching some great actors being stuck together in an average movie.
Patriot Games is available to stream on Sky Cinema and Now TV in the UK.
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