I will be the first to admit that I was ready to hate on this movie. I usually don’t do this often since I want to give the movie a benefit of the doubt, but something about this movie and trailer just didn’t vibe with me at all. Whether it is Tom Cruise, the look of another generic, action thriller, or just the fact that the movie might be another flash in the pan series, trying to make a grab at lighting, Jack Reacher was a dud in my eyes. But on one faithful day at Alamo Drafthouse, one where we were slow as hell and I had some free time on my hands, I ended up giving Jack Reacher a view to see what it was all about. Well, to say the least…I liked it.
Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, ex-military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter-a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right-and soon the slam-dunk case explodes. Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning-and then beat him shot for shot. — (C) Official Site
A little more honesty here…I really liked this movie. More than I thought I would like it, Jack Reacher ended up being exactly what I thought it was going to be (another action thriller, franchise in the making) and did it well enough to create a little rough around the edges flick that had all the right grittiness and panache to really make this an enjoyable movie. I guess maybe having Christopher McQuarrie directing his second movie really helped up my enjoyment considering he did also direct an underrated favorite of mine, The Way of the Gun. If anything, the action sequences in the movie had the right tone and realism that I could get behind since his previous movie had more of the same. I got to admit, I want more of this movie.
Now one of the apprehensions I had about the movie is Cruise in yet another MI style movie where he is the super spy/military guy that is just unstoppable. I have seen it before and not really wanting to see it all again since I can go and watch his previous movies for those roles. Here in Jack Reacher, this dude is a hard-boiled badass. Cruise does bring a steely, almost calculated balance to a character that has seen some shit in his life and just shrugs off life’s problems while murdering a bad guy with a rock. It’s a thing of beauty watching the short stature Scientologist just methodically take apart a group of baddies, weave in and out of traffic, and finally find a little time to crack some dry wise that ends up making the character seem endearing. Yeah he might be a bit one-dimensional, but Cruise manages to interject some life into the role. I have never read the books that the movie is based on, but I have to imagine that with the positive reviews for the movie, something has to be right.
But Cruise isn’t alone in this movie as Rosamund Pike plays the non-morally corrupt lawyer who balances out the vigilante style action Reacher does, with a her faultless lawyer sensibilities. My favorite actor/director Werner Herzog also shows up in the movies as a man known as The Zec, bringing his poignant and direct style of documentary pathos/speech style to a limited role. Richard Jenkins and Robert Duvall round out the cast of solid actors/actresses to rather by the numbers action thriller. The cast does make up some of the short falls of the movie, mainly the plot which I have to assume is better fleshed out in the book and not so muddled here in the movie. I would have to figure that it follows a Bourne like book to film interpretation, where we get just the meat of the book with that stringy sinew that binds it all together missing. I wanted a little more complexity or even just a clearer vision for the movie, but hell the action sequences are enough to get me to move along with the progress of the movie.
I got to hand it to a movie that basically won me over by giving it a shot. Again, I just don’t know what stopped me originally from going out and seeing it, but I guess it was just a couple of apprehensions that melded together that just made it a moot point in seeing it. Still, a solid action flick with some thrills and commendable acting from Cruise who makes Reacher a mysterious/menacing foe to go up against.
