Tom Cruise's BEST in at least a decade

Rating: 6/10 (7 September 2013)

Those who know me well know that I am not the biggest fan of Tom Cruise and I can actually do without most of his movies. It seems as if Tom Cruise has at one time signed up somewhere to play a character that has been used interchangeably ever since in a variety of movies as he is oftentimes a tough-talking alpha-male with a chip-on-his-shoulder.
Jack Reacher is a perfect Cruise character as he is the SMOOTHEST toughest-talking, most alpha-male movie character to be on screen in months (he is also the film's title character and that could possibly be all that Cruise needed as motivation). Jack Reacher doesn't really have a chip on his shoulder, though ... his "chip" is more like a state the size of Texas.
Reacher is called to Pittsburgh to help investigate a multiple murder in which five random people were killed from a hail of six shots along the urban riverfront. A military officer is accused of the murders but Reacher knows the suspect is just a patsy which means he'll have to dig a little deeper to get to the truth and find what has been hidden and/or destroyed.
Not getting much help from the law (who actually believe Jack could be behind the deaths or at least knows something else about them), Jack teams up with the officer's lawyer, Helen (Rosamund Pike - Pride & Prejudice), and the pair follow evidence trails that lead to her father's corrupt office at the DA (Richard Jenkins - Killing Them Softly) and to other less-than-desirable individuals such as a sociopathic hit-man (Jai Courtney - A Good Day to Die Hard) and a secretive Russian mob boss (Warner Herzog - What Dreams May Come).
Jack always has something to say no matter the situation or surroundings (this kind of won me over) and he must always stay a step of others and his surroundings as his life and Helen's life are quickly put into danger. Figuring out why these five people were killed and what their unlikely link was might get Jack into trouble or killed ... Can Jack figure it all out before it is too late?! Jack Reacher has some good dialogue and it was my favorite thing about the film. Cruise oftentimes comes across as arrogant but here his character's talk backed-up his stance. Pike has little to actually do but I still like her as an actress and using Herzog in such a small role garners attention as he rarely acts on screen anymore. Jack Reacher plays its hand wisely and most of it works.
Director Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) has wisely crafted a film that makes one wonder and suspect and anticipate what'll come next. As much as I hate to admit to liking a Cruise vehicle ... I did like Jack Reacher and I could actually watch it again!