Jack Ryan's Latest Redux

I grew up in the 1970s.  One of my favorite shows was "CHiPs"; if you were alive back then, you remember Erik Estrada's teeth.  However, one of my favorite characters on the show was Captain Getraer, played  by Robert Pine. 

Robert Pine was that guy you saw all the time, on "Cannon," "Mod Squad," "Magnum P.I.," "Dynasty," "Dallas," "LA Law," "Baywatch," and the list goes on and on.  IMDb has 198 credits listed for this working actor. He never was the leading man, but this handsome man was the dad, the congressman, the police captain, the judge, or the principal.

A couple years ago, I saw this guy in Princess Diaries 2 and thought, "dang he looks like Robert Pine." (I know I'm one of only a few people who would think that...one of my quirks.) Turned out that I was right.  It was his son, Chris Pine. A few years later he landed the role that catapulted him to the stardom that his dad never knew, as James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams redux of "Star Trek."

This weekend, Chris has taken on another iconic role, Jack Ryan; Tom Clancy's American hero played previously by Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and most memorably by Harrison Ford.  Of course, this is the young Jack Ryan, an economics student who joins the Marines after 9/11. He is seriously injured when his helicopter is shot down over Afghanistan.  Despite his injuries, he distinguishes himself by pulling two of his men to safety. While in rehab at Walter Reed, he meets two people who set his life on opposing paths, a young doctor named Cathy (Keira Knightley) and a CIA handler (Kevin Costner).  Fast forward ten years, Jack is planted in NYC as part of the financial industry. He's an analyst, there to watch where the money goes and prevent terrorism. He and Cathy are engaged. He finds some sketchy transactions from the Russians that could mean disaster for the U.S. economy. He goes to Russia to perform an audit (how un-Jack Ryan is that) and meets Vicktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh). From there, the snowball of action rolls, and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Chris took on Ryan fearlessly. At once he was Marine, CIA agent, brilliant geeky economist, fierce patriot and protector, gentle lover, and broken warrior. The scene with Kevin Costner in the park was a great piece of acting.  I have to say that hearing Keira Knightley without an English accent threw me for a loop. So much so, it had me suspicious of her the entire movie. Perhaps that was the work of Kenneth Branagh, who not only played the villain brilliantly but was also the film's director.  Costner was solid as Ryan's handler and he and Pine had great chemistry.

I am sure that Chris' working actor dad is bubbling with pride in some theater in CA this weekend. "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" is a great addition to the legacy of Jack Ryan and a likely beginning to another franchise of the character. I definitely see Costner, Knightley, and especially Pine in another Jack Ryan movie.