Clear and Present Danger (1994)

IMDb plot summary: CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

Directed by Phillip Noyce. Starring Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, and Joaquim de Almeida.

This is, for the most part, your typical spy action thriller, and I will say up front that this is NOT my genre -- lots and lots of pieces, lots and lots of gun fights, lots and lots of names being thrown around and characters switching sides, none of which would be difficult to track if I cared, but I usually don't. It does delve into some interesting themes near the end about government overreach and abuse of power, but those are definitely meant to take a back seat to the action sequences. Harrison Ford is great here -- he so often gets to play tough and jaded characters in action films, but here he brings a refreshing amount of earnestness to the role, which is when I like him most. I'd expect fans of the genre to like this more than I did, but I can see what it does well.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Clear and Present Danger < A Chorus of Disapproval

Clear and Present Danger > The King

Clear and Present Danger < Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Clear and Present Danger > The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Clear and Present Danger > The Net

Clear and Present Danger > Pal Joey

Clear and Present Danger < The Woman in Black

Clear and Present Danger < Captain Fantastic

Clear and Present Danger < Another Thin Man

Clear and Present Danger < Spinning Into Butter

Clear and Present Danger < Birdman of Alcatraz

Final spot: #2157 out of 3366, or 36%.