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Was Ritter Anyone Else's Favorite Character?


Even though Robert Ritter is just a supporting character in this movie, he's probably my favorite character in this movie. Two other Tom Clancy novels I've read before seeing this film were Without Remorse and The Cardinal Of The Kremlin, and in both Ritter plays a key part in the plots. This movie I think seemed to capture the mental picture I had of Ritter, smart like Ryan but darker and kmore efficient.

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I disliked Ritter's portrayal in the movie. Ritter was NOT a villain in the novels. Cutter was the villain, but for some reason they decided to ruin one of the classic Clancy characters in this film and make him a villain. If anything, Ritter was instrumental in providing help to Jack and Clark when they launched their rescue mission.

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I noticed in the novel The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Which I read after seeing this movie) Robert Ritter was a very important character, and was actually as much of a good guy (If not more so) than Jack Ryan. In the novel, Ryan was going through some legal issues of his own which probably didn't help, and when Gennedy Filitov is captured by the KGB it was RITTER who went to the President and argued with him how important it was (Not just politically, but morally) that the CIA send in John Clark to get Filitov out of the U.S.S.R.

After reading The Cardinal of the Kremlin and Without Remorse I actually prefer the Ritter from the books who was very much a good guy, although Czerny really performs amazingly in the role on film.

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ritter was fired and went to work for the IMF

he told tom cruise
''if you wanna shake hands with the devil
thats fine with me
i just wanna make sure you do it in hell''

and bob sugar left SMi and became a cop in 'street kings'

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Henry Czerny made Ritter a really convincing sleazebag. He seems to be doing all TV work these days. Clearly, a talented actor.

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last time i saw him

he was on some TV show

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I really disliked the Ritter character. But I blame the actor because his performance in Mission Impossible made him look like the villain when he was actually the opposite -- but in this, he was a bad guy so I just couldn't tolerate his presence.



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Good scene at the end where Ritter yells to Ryan "Grey! The world is grey, Jack!" and then you see a look on his face that's almost a mixture of fear and self-loathing.

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I love that line, because up until that point Ritter had been with the inner circle of POTUS, Cutter, and John Clark. He even points out to Ryan that he has a "get out of jail free card" which most likely only he, Cutter and Clark had. Ryan didn't have one of those, so Ritter (and everyone else in the inner circle) expected Ryan to keep his mouth shut and accept the world as "grey." However, once Ritter shouts it, you can tell the gears are working in his head and he's realizing that Ryan won't stop, regardless of whether or not he's risking himself.

As a fan of the novels, I was disappointed when I learned how Ritter was more of a hero and a lot of people like John Clark actually mention him quite favorably a couple times. However, going by the movie Czerny does a hell of a job making him seem like a government CIA type, going behind people's back and feeling one step ahead of everyone else. He knows full well the President's a moron, Jack Ryan's a "boyscout," and that Cutter "couldn't tie his shoes without permission." Yet that scene with Ryan is probably the best character interaction in the whole movie in my opinion.

Can't be too careful with all those weirdos running around.

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he's funny when he gets mad.



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