The American Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2012)

In Hollywood's eternal quest to find potential franchises Paramount have turned to Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Spanning 17 novels, the ninth of the series, One Shot has been adapted as a starring vehicle for Tom Cruise, much to dismay of the series' fans. But Jack Reacher ends up being an enjoyable crime-thriller, even if it does have some faults.
In Pittsburgh a sniper seems to randomly kill five people outside of PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The police and DA Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins) quickly find a suspect, a former army sniper, James Barr (Joseph Sikora) and the evidence against him is staggering. But when former army cop Jack Reacher (Cruise) shows up and starts to investigate he believes that Barr is being famed, despite his dislike for the man, and stumbles on a wider conspiracy.
Jack Reacher is basically a modern American version of Sherlock Holmes, particularly the modern version given to us by Warner Brothers and the BBC. Reacher is a man with great foresight that can see clues, characteristics and patterns no one else can. He sees the faults and questions everything that is put in front of him and comes up with a logical conclusion. Like Sherlock, Reacher is a loner and focused on solving a case. Rosamund Pike's character, defence attorney Helen, act as Reacher's Watson as she plays her role of assisting Reacher, even if he has an ulterior motive. Whilst Reacher and Sherlock are social outcasts, Reacher is a drifter, someone who does not settle, a loner and more darker, brooding character who has a ruthless edge.
One of the biggest complains of the film before it was even released was the casting of Cruise as a character that is describe to be 6ft 5in. and over 200 pounds. But he pulls off the role well, having presence when one screen, showing he have the action chops and it is entertaining to see someone fight dirty. Jack Reacher is also surprising funny with Cruise being supplied with some excellent lines and with his comic timing gave Reacher a dark wit. The only real problem with Reacher was that he felt too much like a superman and no one was able to match him in a fight. He was able to beat up numerous opponents that were armed single handed with ease. I know he is a top military officer but there are still some limits with what he can do.
Jack Reacher is Christopher McQuirre's second film as a director and does a decent job. The action was well handed, from the fights, to the final gun battle and an excellent car chase which should remind you of the car chase in Bullitt. There is a hard hitting edge to the film, from guys getting hit in the testicles, Reacher getting hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat and Reacher shoving his thump in someone's eye. The action is well shot and edit, you can easily tell what is happening and it pushes what can be done with the PG-13 rating. In the UK the film was slightly cut to earn a 12A rating. The opening sequence in was filled with tension as a we look through as we see him prepare his deadly action, seeing it through the viewing scope as he picks his targets. McQuirre also borrows some techniques from Sherlock Holmes (2009) and CSI as we see alternative sceniros and looking at the evidence, but takes a deliberately less flashy approach.
Whilst the film is solid it is not without problems. It's running time a bit too long and it could have been trimmed: particular because it felt like the novel had more subplots but cut down when in the film when they should have been removed from the film. The other major problem was the lack of motive for the bad guys whose big plan was to protect their dodgy construction deals: it's a bit of a disappointment, especially when you consider the backstory of the main bad guy. Finally the dialogue did offer a bit too much exposition at times, feeling a little too forced.
One final minor point the musical score did sound very much like the music in the excellent PS3 game Heavy Rain. I just wanted to bring it up.
Jack Reacher as a whole is entertaining enough film especially when the action kicks in, but it was a little unsure on whether it wanted to be a crime-thriller or an action-thriller. Jack Reacher himself is an American Sherlock Holmes with daps of Bullitt and Dirty Harry. It's worth a rental or stream.