Family is a huge theme within the movie Patriot Games. There are several different types of families within the movie, some conventional while others not so much. First there is Jack Ryan's family which is a standard nuclear family and in the same vein there is Lt. Robby Jackson's (Samuel L Jackson) family. Then there are a series of several other organizational families. The first is the offshoot of the IRA who are considered a family although they turn very quickly if they suspect betrayal. The CIA, which could be considered Jack Ryan's second family, is another one and much like the IRA it is extremely exclusive but does not turn to violence like the IRA does.
Two families in the film are crucial in creating plot points and driving the plot along. These two families are Jack Ryan's family as well as the terrorist-like IRA group. At the beginning of the film Jack Ryan protects his family and ends up killing Sean Miller's, part of the IRA, younger brother. Miller is understandably angry as family, especially blood relatives, are very important and makes an effort to get revenge by somehow hurting Ryan's wife and daughter. Miller's true act of revenge happens at the mid act climax where he causes Ryan's wife and daughter to get into a potential life threatening car crash. They are not killed but the safety of Ryan's family has once again been threatened. The theme of the threatened family appears again and again throughout the film and not just between Ryan and the IRA. Protection of the family is extremely important for all groups involved and acts as a device to move the plot along.
The two nuclear families you mention are certainly essential to the plot, but are the organizational families, the IRA and the CIA also essential?
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