Cruise delivers

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 2013)

Say what you will about Cruise, he can act. I've never forgotten his appearance in "The Last Samurai", one of my favorites.
He brought that same screen presence to "Jack Reacher" of a dangerous and determined adversary of those on the wrong side of that fence that separates good and evil. He may not care about the law but he does care about justice.
As an action movie this wasn't the best but it was good. As a mystery again, not the best, but good. This movie worked for me and I liked it.
Duvall is one of the great character actors of this era, who can forget his portrayal of the washed up singer in "Tender Mercies", another of my favorites. As an admirer of his work I'm surprised to find myself saying he was not the best choice for his role. But that's a fairly minor criticism because this movie delivered.
It won't be a classic but not because Tom Cruise didn't give it his usual 110%.