Cruise as Reacher? You gotta be kidding me

Rating: 5/10 (17 June 2013)

This review is written from the point of view of someone who has read the book before watching the movie and is a big fan of the Jack Reacher series of books by Lee Child.
"How to screw up a book in two hours?". This could have been the alternate name for Jack Reacher, the motion picture based on the book One Shot by Child.
I know it is very difficult to incorporate all the details of a five hundred page book into a two hour long movie. But, to chop off the important parts and to reveal the main culprit, who is disclosed during the last 50 pages of the book, in the first two minutes of the movie, is plain idiotic. It changes the book from a whodunit and makes it more of a star vehicle for the actor/producer of the movie Tom Cruise.
Talking about Mr. Cruise, not only is he physically dissimilar to Jack Reacher (6 feet 5 inches, chest 50 inches according to the Reacher's CV , given before the beginning of every book), he just doesn't look comfortable in the part. Reacher is a loner, an ex-military cop who you don't want to mess around with and who spouts just about the coolest one-liners in recent memory. Cruise looks ill at ease and I felt like laughing out loud in scenes where he is shown threatening people with grave body damage if they don't do as he says.
However, for those who haven't read the book, this is a better than average movie. The book is dumbed down for the audience in its adaptation and the pacing doesn't allow the viewer to think too much. The action scenes look a bit unnatural because of Cruise's built. However, the twists, as they are, keep coming thick and fast.
In the acting department, besides Uncle Tom, there is the brilliant Robert Duvall in a very good cameo act. His presence on the big screen uplifts the viewer because it is clearly visible that he is having a ball in his role.
The direction by Christopher McQuarrie is competent considering this is his first movie after a gap of twelve years. It is the screenplay, written by Child himself along with McQuarrie, which really keeps this from becoming a great mystery movie.
This would be enjoyed by fans of Cruise. Those of Reacher should stay away.
Watching this has made me realize how much I have missed Reacher during the past month and has increased my craving for his latest book, A Wanted Man.