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Terror film 'too close to home', say critics
A new film starring Ben Affleck has come under fire for graphic footage of a fictional terrorist attack on America.
As the Paramount blockbuster The Sum of All Fears opens today across 3,183 American screens, its makers await the response to a film which appears to have been overtaken by true-life events. Based on the Tom Clancy bestseller, the thriller has a bunch of terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb in a US city. Critics say the film may be seen as too close to home in the wake of September 11 and the threatened war between India and Pakistan.
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan, The Sum of All Fears was filmed before the events of last September and later received only a minimal re-edit to prune out any background buildings which could be mistaken for the World Trade Centre. But its makers are still treading carefully where the media is concerned. Alden has said that he intended the film to be viewed as a warning of the dangers of terrorism within the US, but added: "Tragically someone beat us to the wake-up call." Affleck also resorted to the T-word when he said, "We went and made a movie that was an escapist political thriller... Now, tragically that is no longer the case."
At the centre of The Sum of All Fears is the explosion of a nuclear bomb during a football game in the centre of Baltimore. Many critics are uncomfortable with the mushroom-cloud carnage showcased in the film's trailer. "Watching Baltimore get blown up on a cool Super Bowl Sunday may not be the entertainment we all crave," writes Daily News critic Jack Matthews, while even Alden has labelled the studio's use of the explosion in the trailer as "a terrible decision".