Tom Cruise kills it as ex-Military cop Jack Reacher

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2014)

Advertisements and trailers can ruin films more so now than ever before. With teaser trailers, full length, TV spots, much of the film can be displayed for the viewer. But because of the way these trailers are cut, it could give the viewer the wrong way to think. Jack Reacher is a film that suffers from the wrong advertising. Banking on mega star Tom Cruise as the lead, the film was portrayed as a normal Tom Cruise action vehicle. Even fans of the book series of which I am were upset that Tom Cruise wasn't the right person to play the part. The most popular reason was he was too short. Reacher is a tall hulking man in the books.
To my delight and not popular opinion Jack Reacher plays out much more like the books than a normal Tom Cruise action film. First and foremost this film is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, The Way of the Gun) A film of this nature need a director who could balance thriller with drama and a bit of action.
That's where his film flourishes. This is a mystery thriller with a touch of action. There's no real heavy gun fire until the end and one car chase in the middle. This films lets the characters have most of the screen time and keeps the story going. Tom Cruise is fantastic as Jack Reacher. Hes a hard nosed, take no prisoner, intelligent ex military cop who always has a plan.
This is one of his best performances in years. And I've read he had a lot of fun playing the part. I'd love to see more Reacher films. Rosamund Pike is good but her chemistry with Cruise is when she shines. They play off each other well, with their characters searching for the same answers in totally opposite ways. Richard Jenkins gets to chew some scenes but it's the famous Werner Herzog who steals scenes as one of the films villains. He's terrifying, creeping and intimidating. Robert Duvall shows up in a great extended cameo with all his scenes with Cruise being just pure movie gold.
The action is shot tightly with the two hand to hand fights being the showcase. But the film is more about the characters and trying to figure out this extremely complicated story, This is a different type of action film with more focus on story and characters than big budget action sequences. Jack Reacher is a film that has to be seen because it pulls the viewer in all the way to the final credits. With the news that Cruise is taking his Reacher director to Mission: Impossible 5 has me thoroughly excited.