I once wrote that CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER was "like a super-comfortable blanket filled with secret wars, double-crossing drug lords, and Willem Dafoe." I stand by that. It's one of my favourite films, a unique cocktail of political dirty tricks, paramilitary operations, and the afore-mentioned Dafoe (often bedecked in a variety of amusing Panama hats and being creepy), which appeals directly to my interests. But my love for this hallowed piece of blockbuster cinema has a disturbing backstory: at first, I never really understood it.
Consider the following exchange of dialogue from the film:
RITTER: You are *such* a Boy Scout! You see everything in black-and-white.
JACK: No! No! No! Not black-and-white, Ritter! Right and wrong!
For years I never understood this line. I mean, did Jack not understand that black and white represented right and wrong? I was 13 the first time I saw it, and it seemed pretty clear to me. I could tell cool shit was going on here, but this line always puzzled me. And, as has so frequently happened, a late night TBS viewing of AIR FORCE ONE came to my rescue.
You see, before AIR FORCE ONE came into my life and exposed me to the wonders of Gary Oldman attempting to play a Chechnyan, I had always thought of Harrison Ford as the Scoundrel - Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Even that guy from American Graffiti was kind of a charming jerk. But when I saw AIR FORCE ONE, that all changed.
It had honestly never occurred to me that Harrison Ford might be able to play a square-jawed moral simpleton until this moment. Then it all became clear to me: CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER was actually about obfuscation.
Consider this line, when Dafoe learns of the codename for the mission:
CLARK: "Reciprocity." That's a clever name for it. Revenge is a very, very, very dangerous motivation.
Both this line and the one that so confused me are actually about doublespeak - and politics. About using a euphemism instead of a truth. About saying one thing and meaning another. About saying nothing. When Ritter talks about "black and white", he doesn't actually mean anything - the words have no real meaning to him. And Harrison Ford is reminding him what they're actually talking about.
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how I missed this. I mean, the poster has Ford literally draped in an American flag next to the words, "Truth Needs A Soldier". Sure, it's corny, it's naïve, it's on the nose, but really, it's kind of beautiful.
Plus, it ends with a character screaming at the President while calling him "sir". Deal with it, America. You're beautiful and a little stupid.
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