‘Jack Ryan’ gets off to a strong start
Amazon TV series predates the movies, with analyst just settling into CIA desk
Tom Clancy hero Jack Ryan has been portrayed by four actors in five films, a record that makes Batman’s cinematic history look downright stable. But for this character, the decision to constantly change the face and keep the name is wholly appropriate. He’s the everyman intelligence analyst who knows more than his bosses. He would rather be sitting behind a desk but ends up with his necktie on and a rifle in hand, a man of action by accident. Jack Ryan, Clancy seemed to be saying, is all of us. The new “Jack Ryan” television series from Amazon Video understands the character, and begins earlier than any of the films. Ryan is just entering the CIA and hasn’t even been on a first date yet with his future wife (and future U.S. first lady, if we’re going by Clancy’s books). The result is a rock-solid series, with a possibility of real excellence in the future, if co-creators Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland can solve a few pacing problems. John Krasinski is the most winning Jack Ryan since Harrison Ford, with a strong narrative and action beats that are close to big-screen blockbuster quality. The vibe of the TV show runs closest to the 1994 Jack Ryan film,
“Clear and Present Danger,” the most layered and arguably the best of the Clancy films. Ex-Marine and ex-Wall Street wunderkind Ryan would prefer to be deskbound, trying to track new terrorist factions by scouring financial data. But he discovers a possible “new bin Laden” in his reams of notes. And being Jack Ryan, he is bound by duty to follow his hunches into the actual cross fire of a Middle Eastern terror cell.
“Jack Ryan” manages to go slow and fast at the same time, with mostly sound results. The writers establish Ryan’s intelligence and accessibility in everyday scenes, including a memorable one where a colleague asks whether she should pick up Zack Greinke or Dallas Keuchel in her fantasy baseball league. His answer is both dorky and analytically impressive.
Ryan’s romance with future wife Dr. Mueller (Abbie Cornish) reveals something new in the Jack Ryan universe: protagonists having onscreen sex. (Hope their future children don’t stream this when they’re older.)
But this isn’t Clancy’s “The Office.” The makers of “Jack Ryan,” who have a pedigree with the TV series “Lost,” seem aware of the need for hourly action, including an impressively staged siege shootout and standoff at the end of the first episode. Future installments yield similar rewards, along with some hightech military and surveillance fun. Along with an everyman Jack Ryan, this Amazon “Jack Ryan” mostly delivers that highsecurity-clearance, inside-the-briefing-room vibe that fueled Clancy’s early success.
While the writing is solid, the way the show stays organized is less assured. The terror leader Suleiman (Ali Suliman) is given depth, including a childhood backstory that helps explain — if not justify — his horrific actions. We get to know Paris operatives and a drone pilot down to their sex lives. But Ryan’s boss James Greer is mostly a cipher by the end of the fourth episode, his character traits left to fill out by the Ryan movies you’ve watched in the past 30 years.
Ryan himself swings a little too wildly from grim witness to the horrifying to nice guy who just wants to have a normal life. The Nora Ephron vibe of the Ryan/Mueller courtship seems incongruous with Ryan’s need to struggle for his life in clumsy hand-to-hand combat every other episode.
But in the end, the makers of “Jack Ryan” accomplish two important things: creating a TV Jack Ryan who feels like Jack Ryan, and giving audiences good reason to care about the next episode.
Over the years, continuity has been the enemy of Jack Ryan. But we hope this one sticks around for a couple more seasons.
Along with an everyman Jack Ryan, this Amazon “Jack Ryan” mostly delivers that high-security-clearance, inside-the-briefing-room vibe that fueled Clancy’s early success.