John Krasinski stars in new series Jack Ryan

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, FRIDAY 31 AUGUST

A lec Baldwin. Harrison Ford. Ben Affleck. Chris Pine. Four textbook Hollywood hunks who have all played author Tom Clancy’s former marine-turned-cia operative Jack Ryan in hit blockbuster movies. Now, though, for the first time, the character is coming to TV in the form of a bigbudget, eight-hour series, co-created by Lost writers Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland, and starring John Krasinski as the iconic agent.

ORIGIN STORY

This instantly feels like a very different version of Jack Ryan. The show goes right back to the beginning of Ryan’s

“Aren’t you that guy from The Office?”

story, working a desk job at the CIA doing unremarkable data analysis work. But when he stumbles upon evidence of dodgy banking activity, which he believes is linked to the financing of a planned terrorist attack on the United States, he has to convince his superiors that he’s unearthed something big.

EVERYMAN JACK

Right from the opening episode, the series makes Ryan a relatable regular guy, who just happens to be super-smart and working for the CIA. He’s not a ridiculous action hero, which, as star Krasinski explains in our chat (right), was a huge part of the character’s appeal. This Jack Ryan is an everyman we can all identify with, although it’s not long before he is wielding heavy firearms and engaging in some major action in the Middle East.

THE VERDICT

If you’ve been wondering why – after the success of the American version of

The Office, myriad hit films as an actor, and his own box-office smash as writer/ director, A Quiet Place, earlier this year – Krasinski should choose to play a dude we’ve seen many times before in the fairly well-worn genre of the espionage action thriller, it’s soon clear he is having the time of his life. And it’s an infectiously entertaining ride.