‘You think I’m a hero? I am not a hero. I’m a drifter with nothing to lose…’
The eponymous Jack Reacher is one of the fictional characters that I knew absolutely nothing about going into this 2012 adaptation of Lee Child’s series of books. I’d definitely confused the character with Tom Clancy’s creation, Jack Ryan, which I think had put me off him a bit. Fortunately, the siren call of little Tommy Cruise was too much for me to ignore forever. As the greatest leading man who ever lived, surely he can bring this character to life, I thought, despite the fact that his casting was heavily criticised at the time for Cruise’s diminutive height in comparison to the giant depicted in the books. And I was right! For once! Predictably, Cruise is great here and the film going on around him is solid too…
When a group of seemingly unrelated people are brutally massacred by an unnamed sniper, the resulting fallout coaxes ex-military man Jack Reacher (Cruise) out of hiding to try and solve the case. He teams up with Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), a defence attorney, to find justice. The starry supporting cast is rounded out by Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, and, bizarrely, noted documentarian Werner Herzog.
So, Jack Reacher is not like Jack Ryan. He’s much more likeable and interesting, especially in Cruise’s hands. I was surprised by how dark a film this is. There are moments, specifically the recounting of the mass shooting event, that are shot like a horror film and these moments are indeed horrific. Elsewhere, Cruise plays a much harder and colder version of his Ethan Hunt character from the Mission: Impossible franchise, and he bounces off Pike beautifully (behave). Having also rewatched Gone Girl recently, I’ve no idea why Pike didn’t become one of the most bankable actors of her generation. Director Christopher McQuarrie, who also helms the Mission: Impossible franchise, knows his way around an action sequence, but actually, it’s the character development and the smart dialogue that elevate Jack Reacher beyond most modern-day action movies.
I had real misgivings going into Jack Reacher but I should have trusted my instincts. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV simply doesn’t make bad movies. Well, he does… but not very often.
