‘Patriot Games’

Although in some ways as capable as its ex-Marine, ex-CIA hero (Harrison Ford, pictured) this 1992 release could use more of the gentleman’s moxie. The second of technomaster Tom Clancy’s novels to be filmed, it’s a perfectly adequate action thriller-that neither disappoints nor exhilarates. Now a Naval Academy instructor, Ford’s John Patrick Ryan, in London to give a speech and enjoy a family vacation, almost literally stumbles on an attempt by Irish terrorists to assassinate a cousin (James Fox) of the queen (HBO Thursday at 11 p.m.).