The latest installment of the Jack Ryan movie series on Amazon Prime, this time around is a two hour movie, not a series. It is a great example of producers trying to "squeeze as much money out of the rock" for a well known name and franchise that I have ever seen.
The character of Jack Ryan started in 1990, starring Alec Baldwin in "The Hunt for Red October", and spawned two very good movies movies, "Patriot Games" (1992) and "Clear and Present Danger (1994) starring Harrison Ford, "The Sum of All Fears" (2002) starring Ben Affleck, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" (2014) and the current one, streaming now on Amazon Prime, "Jack Ryan Ghost War" (2026) starring John Krasinski. Krasinski also starred in 4 seasons of Jack Ryan in Prime in 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023.
This story grabs all that works in the previous Jack Ryan series, starting with the long time close friendship between Jack Ryan, played by Krasinski James Greer, played by Wendell Pierce where there are scenes of their affection and respect for one another and intense arguments, due to new revelations about cases they have worked on in the past. There are well done scenes of massive gunfire, car chases and shootouts inside of buildings and cars blowing up. This movie also stars Sienna Miller who plays an MI6 agent Emma Marlow and Max Beesley as Liam Crown who is the evil leader of a criminal organization.
The problem is that there is nothing new in this movie that we have seen so many times before in the four Prime series and the previous five movies. In the rush to make more money in the Jack Ryan series, the realization that name recognition would probably mean that less time would be necessary to write an interesting and innovative screenplay. People will probably want to stream this new movie because of the name "Jack Ryan", no need to take 18 months to write and then re-write a new screenplay. Lets make money now.
This unfortunate, slap together a story and then rush to production is the number one reason why this movie is getting such low marks on Rotten Tomatoes of 45%. I agree with this rating and do not recommend this movie. You are better off watching the older movies or the early Jack Ryan series.
Movie Reviews From a Screenwriter's Perspective
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Saturday, May 16, 2026
Movie Review: In the Grey
The new movie "In the Grey" is one of those rare, below-average January movies that are released in May. This film is another example of several well-known stars agreeing to appear in a bad movie due to a favor, contract, or previous verbal agreement, forcing them to act in a movie with a bad screenplay. This film was both written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and I was surprised by how low-quality this movie is, considering the huge experience Guy Ritchie has as both a screenwriter and director.
In the Grey has five well-known bankable actors, including Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Fisher Stevens, Eiza González, and Rosamund Pike. It is possible that the screenplay below average was on hold for a long time, with money already committed to its production. Then a decision was made to hire these five well-known actors to try to save the box office. Due to the very low 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, saving the box office for this movie is highly unlikely.
Eiza Gonzalez plays Rachel, who is an independent operative who is hired to coerce huge debts from very wealthy criminals around the world. She works with mercenaries, played by Gyllenhaal and Cavill, with much of this story explaining how they will try to force a wealthy drug dealer Manny Salazar, played by Carlos Bardem to pay them 1 billion dollars. The story is erratic, too disconnected, and too convoluted to recommend as an action or drama movie. The acting is just OK, with action scenes that are nothing we have not seen many times before.
I agree with the low 47% Rotten Tomatoes rating and recommend this B-movie for right-to-DVD.
In the Grey has five well-known bankable actors, including Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Fisher Stevens, Eiza González, and Rosamund Pike. It is possible that the screenplay below average was on hold for a long time, with money already committed to its production. Then a decision was made to hire these five well-known actors to try to save the box office. Due to the very low 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, saving the box office for this movie is highly unlikely.
Eiza Gonzalez plays Rachel, who is an independent operative who is hired to coerce huge debts from very wealthy criminals around the world. She works with mercenaries, played by Gyllenhaal and Cavill, with much of this story explaining how they will try to force a wealthy drug dealer Manny Salazar, played by Carlos Bardem to pay them 1 billion dollars. The story is erratic, too disconnected, and too convoluted to recommend as an action or drama movie. The acting is just OK, with action scenes that are nothing we have not seen many times before.
I agree with the low 47% Rotten Tomatoes rating and recommend this B-movie for right-to-DVD.
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Movie Review: Marty, Life is Short
The new Netflix documentary "Marty, Life is Short", is an outstanding look into the life of Martin Short, who is one of the most talented and funny actors and comedians we have ever seen. Despite his talent, Short has seen more than his share of tragedy. Short's brother Gordon died in a car accident when Martin was only 12 years old. Both of Martin's parents died before he reached 20 years old. In 2010, Martin lost his wife of 30 years, Nancy Dolman, to Ovarian Cancer, the same disease that Gilda Radner died of in 1989. A few months ago, Martin lost his adopted daughter, Katherine, to suicide.
Through all this tragedy and an extremely difficult career in show business, there were years where Short was making movies regularly, but a large percentage of them were not financially successful. As Martin says in this documentary, you succeed only about 10% of the time, and have to weather years of no work and bad times when nothing seems to work. There is a scene where Short bought a house with his wife, thinking that the two movies he was about to make would pay for it, only to lose one of the movies. The reaction from his wife was, "We will just move".
Martin Short's appearances on the Johnny Carson show were as memorable as his close friend Steve Martin and Robin Williams (see videos below). Short's timing and delivery were always flawless as were his impressions of many celebrities, including Katherine Hepburn, Betty Davis, and even Magician Doug Henning. Like the many celebrities who appeared on the Johnny Carson show, Martin was one of the very few who could turn his appearances into a major event.
In 1985, along with Billy Crystal, Martin Short helped rescue Saturday Night Live, which was close to being cancelled, and created one of the best seasons of the show, which included some of Short's most famous characters.
This documentary also shows the many family events at Martin Short's house, which even included friends, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Steven Martin, and even Steven Spielberg. This documentary is very well directed by the well-known director Lawrence Kasdan and includes many interviews with Martin Short about his life and career.
Marty, Life is Short is receiving perfect 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and I agree with this rating, giving this documentary my highest recommendation.
Through all this tragedy and an extremely difficult career in show business, there were years where Short was making movies regularly, but a large percentage of them were not financially successful. As Martin says in this documentary, you succeed only about 10% of the time, and have to weather years of no work and bad times when nothing seems to work. There is a scene where Short bought a house with his wife, thinking that the two movies he was about to make would pay for it, only to lose one of the movies. The reaction from his wife was, "We will just move".
Martin Short's appearances on the Johnny Carson show were as memorable as his close friend Steve Martin and Robin Williams (see videos below). Short's timing and delivery were always flawless as were his impressions of many celebrities, including Katherine Hepburn, Betty Davis, and even Magician Doug Henning. Like the many celebrities who appeared on the Johnny Carson show, Martin was one of the very few who could turn his appearances into a major event.
In 1985, along with Billy Crystal, Martin Short helped rescue Saturday Night Live, which was close to being cancelled, and created one of the best seasons of the show, which included some of Short's most famous characters.
This documentary also shows the many family events at Martin Short's house, which even included friends, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Steven Martin, and even Steven Spielberg. This documentary is very well directed by the well-known director Lawrence Kasdan and includes many interviews with Martin Short about his life and career.
Marty, Life is Short is receiving perfect 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and I agree with this rating, giving this documentary my highest recommendation.
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