Film Review - Jack Reacher (12)

After such a positive response to my recent post "Top 10 Most Forgotten Films of the 21st Century (so far)", I thought I'd pull a couple of reviews from the archives for movies featured in the list.

First up is the excellent "Jack Reacher" starring Tom Cruise. I originally wrote this review in February 2013 so some of the information (and opinions) are a little outdated, but hopefully you'll enjoy and find this helpful none the less :)

A sniper executes six random people in cold blood, then issues the demand: "Get me Jack Reacher". Is the case as cut and dried as it seems, or can Reacher (Cruise) get to the truth before the truth gets to him?

(Plot summary courtesy of Empireonline.com)

"Jack Reacher" is one of the best thrillers I've seen in a long time! An engaging plot, strong characters, solid script and surprisingly good direction that all work together to create a film that not only stands on its own, but hopefully launches a new franchise and stays true to the spirit of an excellent book series.

For those of you who don't know, "Jack Reacher" is the main character in a best-selling book series (written by Lee Child) about a former US Army Police Officer who has become a drifter and helps the people he meets on his travels in their darkest hour of need. I've only read one book in the series ("61 Hours") but it was a great book and Reacher is an incredibly engaging central character as the reluctant hero with a past. He's also a very cinematic hero with a rich back story and character built up over 17 novels to date, so it was only a matter of time before a film adaptation was made and it's no surprise that Tom Cruise was interested. The only thing is, Reacher is described in the books as 6' 5" tall, weighs between 210 and 250 pounds and has a 50 inch chest...so not Tom Cruise then.

Unfortunately though, no one who matches that description, like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson or maybe Chris 'Thor' Hemsworth, also has the credibility to carry a character as nuanced as Reacher or to make a thriller as well made as this. This is why both star and director decided to make this film about the script and the characteristics of Jack Reacher - he's mysterious, world weary, resilient, incredibly smart, deliberate in everything he does and above all, good. Tom Cruise can play all of those things really well and he knows how to deliver smart dialogue...and he can deliver top notch action which actually makes him an excellent choice to play Reacher. Sadly, there are many 'purists' who strongly disagree, but what can you do?

The performances are good and the action scenes are as tough as "Taken", but it's the script and story that make this film a cut above the rest. A lot of the dialogue is lifted straight from the original book that it's based on ("One Shot", you know, the Lee Child book at Waterstones now featuring Tom Cruise on the front cover) which makes it all feel very Reacher-esque, and then the plot unfolds like you're watching a really good book. You can tell you're watching a book adaptation but not in a bad way, instead, it's in the way that you know that the plot twists and turns have been carefully thought out and planned to serve the story instead of focus groups, advertisers and executives.

In conclusion, "Jack Reacher" is an excellent thriller with more meat than "Taken" and action that's almost just as satisfying. It's a good watch at the cinema but will probably (and quite strangely) find much more success on DVD and Netflix.

Rating 4/5

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