"Patriot Games" review

Patriot Games (1992)

Directed by Phillip Noyce
Writing credits W. Peter Iliff

Harrison Ford .... Jack Ryan
Anne Archer .... Dr. Caroline "Cathy" Ryan
Patrick Bergin .... Kevin O'Donnell
Sean Bean .... Sean Miller
Thora Birch .... Sally Ryan
James Fox .... Lord William Holmes
Samuel L. Jackson .... Lt. Cmdr. Robby Jackson

Harrison Ford interrupts an IRA assassination attempt against the royal family. "Pure rage" propels him to take on the terrorists. Now one of the surviving assassins wants revenge. He tries to wipe out Harrison's family. It's on now. It's Harrison Ford vs. the Irish terrorist.

Harrison Ford has to win one for all of the family men out there. When his wife gives him an order, "You just get him Jack.", Harrison obeys. He does what I think most of the people in the audience would hope they would do under similar circumstances. Kill the bad guys of course. There are many heart pulling scenes of his poor little girl in the hospital. This drives Harrison on to be a better CIA analyst and nail the bad guys. It's all for the family.

There's a brief glazing over of the IRA/Northern Ireland angle but really the terrorists could have been anybody. The politics are not important. This is a revenge thriller. Someone takes a shot at Harrison Ford's family and you know he is going to take care of business. I liked it.

SCORE: 3 out of 4 rage-filled Fords