Poor rendition of the book

Rating: 4/10 (6 January 2013)

Please be warned - this is not really faithful to the book, and it is certainly not faithful to the character of Reacher. As a film it's okay - formulaic, no surprises, passes two hours that would have passed anyway. Unfortunately this films comes with a ton of expectations from people who loved the books. The first problem is with Tom Cruise - he is not physically imposing enough to play Reacher (who is 6'5"). Acting well (and he does) isn't a substitute. And then there is a scene when he has the drop on the principle killer - and he throws down his gun to have a good old-fashioned fist fight. This is SO contrary to the Reacher in the books who views killing as simply a job to do - and to be done as quickly and easily as possible. He would simply have shot the guy. Putting down a perfectly good gun is something the real Jack Reacher would never do. What was Christopher McQuarrie thinking?