The Sum of All Fears
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: May 31, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
14
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Director Phil Alden Robinson and his writers, Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne, do a spellbinding job of cranking up the tension, they create a portrait of convincing realism, and then they add the other stuff because, well, if anybody ever makes a movie like this without the obligatory Hollywood softeners, audiences might flee the theater in despair. Read full review
80
VarietyRobert Koehler
Director Phil Alden Robinson -- has done just about everything he can do to build a sleek, involving and -- for a few minutes -- terrifying movie that can get viewers past the young Ryan factor. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Smartly directed, grown-up film of ideas -- with a debonair script by Paul Attanasio (Donny Brasco) and Daniel Pyne. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
All told, it's a reasonably effective movie, but it might have been a lot more effective had it the guts to portray a Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden-like character as its villain instead of this rather unbelievable, but more politically correct, gaggle of cardboard neo-Nazis. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A middlebrow hybrid that should satisfy most fans of spy movies without blowing them away. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie does what all good thrillers should do -- provide enough shocks and surprises to keep us guessing, and never lets up on the suspense until the end credits arrive. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Impossible to watch passively. It may be a work of pure fiction, with the requisite preposterous plot turns, but it still has the air of a ''what if?'' scenario, and it is perfectly, thoroughly chilling. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Screenwriters Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne stick to Clancy's sure-fire formula -- building tension from the political infighting behind a worsening crisis. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Has vast scope, unflagging energy, a rousing Jerry Goldsmith score and a horrendous disaster sequence that conveys much in discreet fashion in keeping with post-Sept. 11 sensibilities yet is needlessly evasive in telling us the precise extent of its magnitude. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMichael Dequina
Smart, complex, and engrossing idea-driven action thriller. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The tension is so plausibly high that you're eager to see how it winds up. Eager enough, in fact, to forgive Jack Ryan for reversing the aging process and winding up as Ben Affleck. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A world-detonation thriller, at once urgent and lazy, that benefits from its connection to current events and also, by the end, suffers from it. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A popcorn movie with a protein center, satisfying neither taste.
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