Great Movie; bad timing.

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2013)

I have read all 17 of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels, and while I was skeptical about Tom Cruise's ability to fill the bill, I think he did an excellent job and the movie was very enjoyable. I could have done without the car chase scene, but I was amazed to see how well the strong character of Reacher and the suspense came through.
This movie would have been a blockbuster if it had been released in September rather than December. To have it released soon after the Sandy Hook shootings, and as the gun control debate rages on, doomed it at the box office. While I still consider Lee Child my favorite author and his Jack Reacher character the best "knight errant" of all time, this dooms the Jack Reacher character as he now stands for the future, and unless Lee Child changes horses or remakes Jack Reacher over, it may doom Lee's writing career as well.