Jack Reacher Review

Rated PG-13 (Violence, Language and Some Drug Material)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 10 Minutes

Cast-

Tom Cruise-Jack Reacher

Rosamund Pike-Helen Rodin

Richard Jenkins-Alex Rodin

David Oyelowo-Detective Emerson

Werner Herzog-The Zec

Robert Duvall-Gunny Samuel Cash

Jai Courtney-Charlie

Joseph Sikora-James Barr

Alexia Fast-Sandy

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

You don't mess with Jack Reacher!

It's amazing how fickle the public can be when it comes to celebrities. Tom Cruise has always been one of my favorite actors but his reputation was irreparably damaged after the infamous 'couch incident' seven years ago, where Cruise professed his love for then-girlfriend (and now divorced) Katie Holmes on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" by leaping around the set like a wild monkey. His association with the Church of Scientology hasn't helped but at the end of the day, none of it really matters. I am only concerned with him as an actor; what he does with his personal life does not enter the picture. Cruise has starred in a number of great films and last December, he reprised his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," which went on to achieve critical acclaim (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and racked up an impressive $694.7 million worldwide. Paramount Pictures is clearly hoping to repeat that success with "Jack Reacher," based upon the novel One Shot from British novelist Jim Grant, better known by his pen name Lee Child. Debuting in 1997 and spanning seventeen novels (with more to come), the Jack Reacher series has proven to be quite popular, selling over 60 million copies worldwide. As for the film, Cruise delivers a suitably intense performance but "Jack Reacher" is nothing more than a generic action thriller featuring bland characters and a wildly uneven tone that borders on self-parody. Something must've been lost when translating the book to film. 

A quiet day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is marred when a sniper fires six shots from a parking garage across the river and kills five random people in a public park. The police, led by Detective Emerson (David Oyelowo), quickly apprehend a suspect, an anti-social ex-military sniper named James Barr (Joseph Sikora). Emerson and tough-as-nails District Attorney Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins) try to get Barr to sign a confession but he instead writes: 'Get Jack Reacher.' A highly-decorated former Police Major for the United States Military, Reacher (Tom Cruise) is now a drifter who lives off the grid with only the clothes on his back. Learning of Barr's actions on the news, Reacher travels to Pittsburgh to confront him but discovers that Barr has been beaten into a coma while on route to jail. Defending Barr is Rodin's daughter, Helen (Rosamund Pike), but Reacher is certain of the man's guilt as a similar incident took place during the Iraq War. However, Barr walked free due to a technicality and Reacher warned the sniper that he would come after him if he ever tried it again. Convinced by Helen to take a second look at the evidence, Reacher unravels a deadly conspiracy involving a shadowy Russian mobster known only as 'The Zec' (Werner Herzog). 

I must admit that I've never heard of Jack Reacher before Tom Cruise was cast in the role, a move that was met with an overwhelmingly negative reception from fans due to the actor's small stature. Apparently, the character in the novel is over 6 feet tall, while Cruise is only 5 feet and 7 inches. Based on the ninth novel in the series, "Jack Reacher" has a decidedly old-school feel and harkens back to the hard-boiled, vigilante crime dramas of the 1970's such as "Dirty Harry" and "Death Wish." The film opens with a chilling scene of the sniper driving to a parking garage in a white van and silently marking his targets before killing them in cold blood. It's an effective and unnerving opening that might hit too close to home for some as it may bring up memories of the Beltway sniper attacks ten years ago. Unfortunately, director/writer Christopher McQuarrie commits a serious misstep by allowing the audience to see the sniper's face. When Emerson arrests Barr, it's already clear that he was set-up as a patsy and thus, much of the suspense is gone. Not helping matters is the obvious music cues whenever Reacher discovers a new clue. The story does present an intriguing idea where people with homicidal tendencies join the military just to have a legal way of killing others. However, it's never sufficiently explored in detail with the exception of a flashback. 

The central mystery revolves around a Russian mobster called 'The Zec' (who resembles a Bond-villain reject) but it's never entirely clear what he was after. Whatever it was, it involved taking over a construction company for 'nefarious purposes.' Characters are largely one-dimensional and it tends to make the procedural elements feel like a drag as they over-explain themselves. Making a sudden entrance, Reacher remains an enigma and no explanation is given as to what made him this way and why he feels compelled to take the law into his own hands. The only comment he gives is that it 'started as an exercise and became an addiction.' He's almost like a superhero, drifting into one city after another and righting wrongs with nothing but his bare fists. While it's supposed to make him come off as tough, some of the dialogue he utters can get downright cheesy. Confronting the real sniper on the phone, Reacher vows to 'beat [him] to death, and drink [his] blood from a boot,' which just sounds unintentionally hilarious. In fact, "Jack Reacher" never nails down a proper tone as some of the humor feels out of place. An interrogation turns into a farce when the person being interrogated attempts to solicit sex and a bathroom brawl ends with two thugs knocking themselves out like the Three Stooges. McQuarrie handles the action well enough and it's in those instances that the film comes alive, like a nocturnal car chase that's backed up by Caleb Deschanel's stylish cinematography, where Pittsburgh feels like a city on the edge of chaos. It's a shame really, because there are inklings of a juicy pulp mystery in "Jack Reacher" but the inconsistent tone and muddled storytelling drags it down. 

One of the reasons the film remains watchable is Tom Cruise and while he's saddled with some shoddy dialogue, he still manages to deliver an intense performance as the stoic Jack Reacher. It's not a role that will flex his dramatic muscles but Cruise throws himself into it with a quiet determination, which should quell fan's concerns about his casting. Rosamund Pike is fine as hotshot lawyer Helen Rodin and the way the film handles the sexual tension between her and Reacher is one of the highlights as you're asking yourself will they or won't they. David Oyelowo plays it cool as Detective Emerson with Richard Jenkins lending support as Helen's estranged father. Famed German director Werner Herzog is the villain known only as 'The Zec,' who survived his imprisonment in a Russian Gulag by chewing off his own fingers. Although Herzog brings the right amount of menace, he still feels like a caricature of a Bond villain with his glass eye. 

"Jack Reacher" will be released on December 21, 2012 and the initial reviews have surprisingly been positive with 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. Several critics have called the film a guilty pleasure. Audience reaction at the advance screening I attended this past Monday appeared to be positive as well, although I feel like it had more to do with the unintentional hilarity to some of the scenes. With three other major releases (and one minor) vying for attention next week, it remains unclear whether "Jack Reacher" will break out from the pack given the hoopla surrounding Tom Cruise's casting and the underwhelming trailers. There's also the issue with the marketing. The novels may be popular but not everyone knows who Jack Reacher is so I'm betting that it'll be a midlevel hit on par with "Valkyrie" and "Knight and Day." Cruise is in fine form but "Jack Reacher" never really clicked with me. It's a well-made film from McQuarrie and is by no means terrible; it's simply just too bland and generic to warrant a full recommendation.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"There's this guy. He's a kind of cop…at least he used to be. He doesn't care about proof, he doesn't care about the law, he only cares about what's right. He knows what I did. You can't protect me. No one can."