Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

I like books.  I like movies.  Sometimes I like movies based on books.  Sometimes I like movies based on fictional characters.  And I always like Kevin Costner movies.

Shadow Recruit is a reboot of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series.  Unlike most origin stories, this one is not faithful to the time.  It restarts Jack Ryan in the present.  (Jack Ryan is an accountant turned CIA dude.) While a 2013 recruited Ryan is not part of the Clancy set, the spirit of the story is maintained.  And as Jack Ryan has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck it hardly matters that we have yet another young actor portraying the idealistic young man.  Chris Pine was a great choice.  I loved him as the young Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie series and he does not disappoint as a young master spy.

And, of course, there is Kevin Costner as the recruiter.  I've followed Kevin since 1987's No Way Out.  He does American heroes well.  And . . . he just turned 59 on the 18th.  Let's hear it for the old guys!