Jack Reacher: movie review

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Rating:

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyolewo, Werner Herzog, Robert Duvall

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

So, here it is: the movie that has fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels so incensed about the casting of Tom Cruise in the title role, even though Child has given his approval.

In downtown Pittsburgh, a sniper kills five people, seemingly randomly. A series of clues leads the police easily to the criminal, named Barr, believed to be behind this attack.

When questioned, the suspect writes only one thing to the police: "Get Jack Reacher". Ex-military cop Reacher sees the case and joins the attorney, played by Rosamund Pike, who's defending Barr.

But as Reacher begins to investigate further, a wider conspiracy is revealed...

Based on the novel One Shot (the ninth of some 16 Reacher books), this film clearly isn't going to satisfy the vocal masses who are unhappy with the casting of Cruise as the titular hero.

I've not read the books, but I am aware of the fact that Reacher is supposed to be 6 foot 5in, brawny and with blonde hair. And Cruise is clearly not all that.

But with a casting that's been approved by the author of the books himself, who has said Cruise "brings 100% to the character with only 90% of the height", I'm pretty sure that should be enough for the fans.

As a non-Reacher fan, I have to say Cruise brings a focused, much pared-down performance than usual, with nary a sighting of his trademark megawatt smile and manic energy.

If anything, this is a darker and more opaque Cruise than we! 've come to expect - an outsider, a character who inhabits a moral grey area and is not above using a bit of violence and intimidation to get what he needs.

Reacher is an interesting character on screen and verges on anti-hero as the action plays out. In some ways, a sinewy, rough-looking Cruise plays him as a traditional drifter and loner type, a guy who you want on your side for vengeance but wouldn't want to cross at other times.

But then there are the other moments in this film which border on the pantomime - Reacher curls up his hand into a fist when he's angry, Pike spends an inordinate amount of time overacting, demonstrating with wide-eyed horror the reality of what's going on as it hits her, and there's some borderline comical dialogue in places too - Barr describes Reacher as a man "who doesn't care about proof, doesn't care about the law - he only cares about the truth" (the kind of writing which works well on the page, but doesn't cut it on the big screen).

The plot is a little muddled in terms of the motivation of those involved - for instance, I wasn't quite 100% sure what the wider conspiracy was all about.

However, the casting of whispering Werner Herzog as a survivor of a Russian gulag who had to chew off his own fingers before gangrene got them is inspired. The madcap director adds such menace to his hushed lines as the Zec that you really wish you'd seen more of him throughout, and certainly the denouement and ultimate showdown is a bit of a disappointment.

Likewise, Robert Duvall shows up late in the piece as a crucial character but nonetheless adds a certain spikiness to the proceedings.

Be advised though, this Jack Reacher movie is not a Hollywood blockbuster by its usual standards - there's no gratuitous explosions and trite bon mots. This is a film of intensity and surprises, although if you're a Reacher fan, it may take a heck of a lot to get you in the cinema in the first place.

My advice though, is to give it a (one) shot - you may wel! l be plea! santly surprised.

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