Now we really do know Jack

One of the casualties of the rush to epic franchise film making as typified by the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the demise of the mid-budget Hollywood movie. I mean the sort of film you could make for around $50 million with a low wattage star name and anticipate a decent return over time. 

Now we are so conditioned to the instant dopamine hit of the big budget blockbuster and the success or failure at the box office decided within a matter of hours there’s no room for risk.

I mention this because Jack Ryan, or Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan to give the show its Sunday name, is exactly the kind of story that Hollywood doesn’t seem willing to tell anymore. That being the case, streaming television is the perfect home, hence the investment from Amazon Prime. You get all sorts of bangs for your buck and you get the chance to develop story and character.

There have been five Jack Ryan movies with the two starring Harrison Ford – Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994) – probably the best known. But for all those five films we have no real idea who Jack Ryan is.

We recognise Harrison Ford as the guy who finds himself in a chopper in a combat zone wearing a flak jacket and a ‘How the hell did I get here?’ look. But really, we don’t know Jack, in every sense of the phrase.

As a writer Tom Clancy doesn’t do nuance or character. His books – and the early ones are quite entertaining in spite of themselves – are basically plot heavy technical manuals dressed up as thrillers. With this series we have room to breathe and find out a little more about who Jack is.

Jack Ryan doesn’t completely do nuance either but there is character development. The eight episodes are effectively three chapters in an overarching arc and they have a very contemporary feel. This is a world of suicide attacks and dirty bombs and ‘conventional’ terrorism. There are elements here which are recognisable from Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger as well as The Sum of All Fears (2002) but the show-runners have the freedom to make this as much about Jack Ryan’s world as about the man himself.

Ryan is the fulcrum around which the story pivots and he doesn’t have to be dashing to the rescue in every show. This means other concepts can be explored. The pilot episode for example is as much about radicalisation as it is about Ryan. Other shows have insights into the refugee crisis and state surveillance; it’s not all about Jack.

The casting of John Krasinski as Ryan is an inspired choice.  Physically he looks the part and he can handle the action scenes, but he can also handle the character moments. The mantle of Jim Halpert from The Office sometimes hangs heavy on Krasinski but here it actually informs his character. He seems perfectly at home as a man whose job is really checking financial transactions and looking for needles in haystacks.

Wendell Pierce as his boss is a revelation and possibly the best thing in the series. He has left his larger than life persona from The Wire and Treme behind and here plays a much more textured individual. Pierce has a secret which defines his character and, while I’m not going to spoil anything here, it does make for a genuinely memorable moment when it is revealed.

Jack Ryan is fast, smart, and humorous when it has to be, but it is not without its missteps. There are times when it all feels a little too rushed and characters get from place to place a little too quickly. Also a sub-plot about a conscience-stricken drone pilot is just tonally and dramatically wrong, unless there is a surprising pay-off in season two.

The second season – to be set in Russia - was commissioned before the first one aired so with luck they should continue that story of Ryan growing into his role.  By the end of the first season there is a hint of Krasinski becoming the man who Ford was; he may not know how he got there but at least he now knows how to deal with it.