Alec Baldwin would follow him out of the exit door.
Quality casting runs, for the most part, through the Jack Ryan boxset.
And yet, rewatchingPatriot Games, I warmed to it a lot, lot more.
Perhaps thats because it feels just a little riskier than your average Hollywood summer film now.
thrust into the middle of Irish politics.
The main plot is kickstarted by an IRA hit on a member of the British royal family.
In the film, they give Edward Fox a tinkle instead, playing Lord Holmes.
He gets three things in exchange for this act.
One is a gunshot wound.
And the third is a vendetta, as Sean Archer vows to avenge his brothers death.
Patriot Games, interestingly, shows both signs of the coin.
It is not long before the human spoiler goes renegade, across three continents.
Im sure youll join me in a quick chuckle at that, chums of a very nerdy persuasion.
This background is crucial.
Ryan isnt James Bond or Jason Bourne, and never was.
Its no coincidence therefore that in the bulk of the action sequences, Ryans family is involved.
And they are pivotal in his decision to rejoin the CIA.
He does this in a strongly-staged car chase, that ends in an argument with the central reservation.
Even before that, weve had Sean Archers prison van breakout, which Noyce presents and frames exceptionally well.
His action sequences have a distinct beginning, middle and end, and theres never any confusion to them.
Nor, crucially, do they drag on.
The best of them though is the one at the end.
Even if Samuel L Jackson is one of the people protecting it.
At least until they get to the bloody boats and the staged ultimate final showdown.
Maybe they needed those boats after all.
Whats common to each of the sequences is that human beings arent treated like props.
Simple things like analysing data become really quite thrilling in his hands.
Not for nothing was Patriot Games intended to be the start of a new trilogy.
Still, there are one or two crossovers.
The film has a further trump card too, in that its got a wonderful James Horner score.
Itd be remiss not to mention that.
And this one ultimately does come back to family.
But still: this is an intelligent, interesting piece of work.
Yet its stood the test of time.
It stood apart a little then.
It looks even more distinct in the context of modern blockbusters.
But the best Ryan movie was to follow next…
