Bean there, done that: Patriot Games (1992)
I do adore a Jack Ryan movie (usually).
I love the way this film opens with talking about Russia (it’s 1992!!) – especially given The Hunt for the Red October – and then… BAIT AND SWITCH!
OK, this is going to focus on Sean Bean, I swear.
- I have no idea whether his Irish accent sounds real to the Irish ear, but it’s convincing enough to me.
- THE HAIR.
- Oops, Jack killed Sean’s younger brother. That’s not going to end well.
- How convenient that his character’s name is also Sean (Miller).
- He’s so young! (Huh; he’s 32 in this film, so… yeh ok, I’m old).
- Bean does angry very well.
- They didn’t make him cut his hair in jail? What sort of establishment is this??
- The blue and yellow jumpsuit does nothing good for Bean’s complexion.
- Although my, he is awfully skinny.
- He also does Terrifyingly Feral very well.
- [Eee, James Earl Jones!]
- He finally gets a haircut on the ship… I think it’s an improvement.
- It’s definitely an improvement. Little bit of a crewcut along the bottom of the head – not an undercut, far more military than that.
- [Eek, Samuel L Jackson! Had completely forgotten he was in this film. Also so young… about 43 years old…]
- Bean doesn’t really exhibit much range in this film: he’s angry, or upset, or frustrated, or… yeh that’s about all, actually.
- Movies just don’t do those fades between cut-scenes in the same way any more. More’s the shame.
- Yikes, disaffected IRA training in the desert… with vaguely Arabic types… oh, early 1990s, you were such a time.
- The conclusion feels rather cliched today – the royal at Jack’s house (as if), the navy buddy is there as well, the lights go out and the baddies make use of night vision (in the middle of a lightning storm, really?)… but I really like the speed boat chase: it may not look particularly realistic, but it is still pretty awesome. Also, over a lot faster than similar denouements in other, later, films.
- Bean’s death, impaled on a boat implement of some sort, is vicious.
Bean Verdict: Unquestionably A Bad Guy (slightly ameliorated by the dead brother aspect, but he was already involved in violence before that).
Movies: 1. Beans dead: 1.
Bean there, done that
It’s been a long time since we did a movie-a-thon, and I was suddenly struck by how much fun it would be to do a Sean Bean watch.
So here it is. Unashamedly, we have picked movies that we already know and love, but which we haven’t seen for ages (with two exceptions).
- Patriot Games
- GoldenEye
- Ronin
- The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring
- The Island
- The Martian
… I’m happy to take suggestions for other movies we should add (not TV, that’s a whole other thing). But you need to give me a good reason.
Mary Darling, by Pat Murphy
Read courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, it’s out in May.
The Peter Pan/Sherlock Holmes mash-up I didn’t know I needed.
I’m a big fan of taking old stories – especially well-loved ones – and either putting women in, or re-telling the women’s stories to give them more agency, or just flat-out actually making them a character rather than sexy (or maternal) lampshades. Here, Murphy gives life to Mary Darling: wife to George, mother to Wendy, John, and Michael – and previous inhabitant of Neverland, courtesy of Peter Pan. She grew up in Cooktown, Qld; is the niece of Dr John Watson; and is generally awesome.
The story is partly Mary’s story, as she goes off to find her own children – recognising all the signs, as she does, of a Peter Pan abduction – and partly Watson’s story, as he (along with Holmes) follow in Mary’s wake to try and find Neverland. Along the way there are adventures, including other Victorian lady adventurers, and brothel-keepers, and several pirates. There’s also flashbacks to Mary’s childhood, as well as to the experiences of various members of the party: Sam, a South-Sea Islander friend from Mary’s childhood; some of the pirates; the people who become known as Princess Tiger-Lily and her family; and George Darling himself.
Murphy has made Barrie’s (and Conan Doyle’s) much richer by restoring the women and people of colour who would really have existed in London, let alone the rest of the world, to the story. She’s also written a zippy tale of adventure and family and identity that kept me completely enthralled.
Holmes does not come out of this story very well. Nor does Peter Pan. I was naturally reminded of AC Wise’s Wendy, Darling, which is a very different book but likewise asks questions about exactly who, or what, Peter Pan could possibly be.
This was brilliant. Loved all of it.
Randomly Yours, Alex 