THE
SUM OF ALL FEARS
This
film is textbook Tom Clancy. He is the master of the
funnel effect. He starts by cross-cutting around a
huge circle worldwide. He tells us the general endpoint
fairly early and adds a ticking clock. The cross-cutting
spirals tighter and tighter, in both space and time,
with all the actors converging at a single point.
Clancy adds
another element crucial to his huge commercial success. Most
political thrillers, especially in film, show the hero hunted
by vast, hidden forces and often end with the hero's death or
defeat.
Clancy,
on the other hand, finds a way to place his single
hero at the center of these vast forces, almost like
a man riding a hurricane. The hero figures out the
one key to turning the vortex from disaster to victory.
Structurally,
Clancy is combining thriller and epic, two forms that don't
naturally go together. It's a combination that is very popular
when it's done right.
|
|
|
