In one of his best performances onscreen he plays

the part of CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an

illegal war fought by the US government against a

Colombian drug cartel. It was a 1994 film directed

by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name

by Tom Clancy and directed by Phillip Noyce.

President Bennett [Donald Moffat] wants to avenge the

death of one of his friends.The murdered man, and his

family,were found by the Coast Guard. He finds out that

his friend had skimmed over $600 million dollars from

the Cali Cartel.The President tells James Cutter[Harris

Yulin], his National Security Adviser, that the Colombian

drug cartels represent a clear and present danger to the

U.S., indirectly giving Cutter unofficial permission to

take down the men responsible for his friend's death.

Jack Ryan is appointed Deputy Director of

Intelligence when his friend Admiral James Greer

(James Earl Jones) is diagnosed with an aggressive

case of pancreatic cancer, which eventually proves

fatal. He goes before congress to ask for an

increase in funding to support the war on drugs

operations going on in Columbia. He gives his word

that no U.S. troops would be used in this operation.

But it soon becomes clear that Ryan is kept out of

the loop by Cutter who turns to CIA Deputy Director

of Operations Robert Ritter [Henery Czerny], who

secures a document giving him permission to do what

he sees fit to take down the cartel.

Ritter then assembles a black-ops team with the help

of John Clark (Willem Dafoe), a secret field operative.

John and his team travel to Colombia and begin destroy-

ing the various Cartel gangs, their equipment and hidden

drug lab facilities.

The plot then thickins from here. The head of the

F.B.I. is sent to Columbia and gets killed, along

with most of his entourage. Ryan is the only one to

escape the ambush.

From the aerial bombing of a villa where all of the

Cartel's leaders are supposed to meet to discuss

matters, to the point that the back-ops team are

betrayed by the people who sent them there,to the

final scene where Ryan angrily confronts the

President Of The United States, who was indirectly

responsible for all the carnage.The movie ends with

Ryan testifying about everything that happened to

Congress.

This movie seems so realistic with all of denials and back

door deals, you might expect to actually see this in the

headlines in your morning newspaper. The culmination

of the right book,excellent directing and superb acting,

made this movie one of the best liked movies of the nineties.