Jack Reacher

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog, Jai Courtney, Robert Duvall
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Rating: PG-13
Action, Thriller
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A military sniper is accused of murdering five innocent civilians, and the only person who can prove his innocence is Jack Reacher- who believes he is guilty.

Review:

Tim: I really enjoyed Jack Reacher, even when I figured I probably shouldn't. This is a flawed movie, but it's easy to overlook those flaws because there's so much to like here. This is a film I had a lot of fun watching, and the enjoyable viewing experience allowed me to forgive some of the mistakes. I very much liked this film, and while it's not great, it's a thrilling, funny, entertaining movie. This is a big win in my book.

I'm pretty bummed that this film didn't do better at the box office. I would love to see Tom Cruise continue making Jack Reacher movies. There's tons of books from Lee Child, and this would be a great franchise. Unfortunately, not enough people checked the movie out, and this may very well be the only Reacher movie to hit the big screen. That's a shame, because there is a lot of potential here.

The biggest strength of this film is both Jack Reacher the character, and Tom Cruise's portrayal of him. This is a movie that is definitely about the main character, above and beyond anything else. Reacher is this cocky, confident, hilarious character, and I loved Cruise's performance. His comedic timing was excellent, and he embodied that devil-may-care attitude that makes Reacher such a fascinating character. I do think the film went to a bit of a ridiculous extreme now and then (why would random people on the street help Reacher escape the police?). The movie tries so hard to convince you how cool and awesome Reacher is that it felt a bit like overkill. After a certain point, I just felt like I got it, and yet the movie continued working overly hard to tell me just how cool he was. It didn't need to do that, because I was completely on board already.

The story itself is pretty interesting. There's not a lot of suspense in who did it, as we're mostly concerned with why. The motive is actually really, really obvious. I am pretty bad at figuring things out, but even I saw the endgame far in advance. It's still fun getting to that point, but the story itself isn't going to blow anyone's socks off. What is most entertaining is just watching Jack Reacher going about his business, being smarter, wittier, and tougher than every single person around him.

As I mentioned, Cruise is quite good in the lead role. He seemed to have fun with it, and it's a role directly in his wheelhouse. I liked him quite a bit here. I also really like Rosamund Pike, but I feel like she always does a good job, but never realizes the peak of her potential. I felt the same way here- she's good, but doesn't give quite enough. Richard Jenkins turns in another fine supporting role, but his load was pretty light here. David Oyelowo continues to build his name with another strong performance. I'm always, always glad to see Robert Duvall, and this was a good supporting role for him. He got quite a few laughs, and interacted well with Cruise. I was also glad to see Jai Courtney here- I think he makes a better bad guy than a good guy. As a whole, the cast is actually quite enjoyable.

There's really nothing great about Jack Reacher, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable action thriller. I want more movies like this out of Hollywood. For only his second directing effort, Christopher McQuarrie keeps the action movie and the audience engaged. I suspect he will one day be a director I get really excited about. With this film, he does create a very watchable, fun movie, and I'd highly recommend it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Way of the Gun, Knight & Day