Mister I don't follow the Law? Mister maybe you should just not be so mysterious.

Rating: 4/10 (30 December 2012)

Christopher McQuarrie revision of Lee Child's fictionalised tale One Shot sees Tom Cruise attempt to incessantly rejuvenate his independence from his private life with a character that narrowly matches our expectations of him. Mister, "I am not a hero" Jack Reacher (Cruise) is an intangible character with a vague, jerky background. Former martial, no long term residential palace and a solitary vest he washes each evening, Mister Reacher is someone who cannot be found, only he uncovers you. This is a man who fails to live by institutions, derives his own laws, but a little less enigmatic then he could be as once he appears he doesn't seem to depart again as expected by his fellow on-screen chums.
Lawyer Helen Rodin, played by the rather stunned looking and unconvincing Rosamund Pike, hires our elusive hero following a merciless sniper massacre on five citizens of Pittsburgh, due to her struggle to verify the purity of a man whose fingerprints and other contingent evidence on top of a request by the accused for the police to contact Reacher.
Despite the gravity of the plot, Cruise executes this routine with a slightly healthier approach than the ghastly efforts flanking Cameron Diaz twelve months ago, notwithstanding the customary tripe involving machine gun shells, a few left and right jabs and the humorous sexual symbolism of a man standing no taller than 5 foot 7 inches, not mentioning the anomalous inclusion of a fingerless Werner Herzog. Cruise's competency does shine above the rest, but poor casting and some examples of hopeless dialogue simply categorises McQuarrie's festive treat with a bad taste after two thirds of the reel. The movie does embrace a few instances of generating a brutal atmosphere which on occasion enlighten the insipidness of immeasurable cross-examination scenes and frail attempt at a rather precarious car pursuit. Cruise's career will never be refined despite his continuous self confidence. Name changers such as Top Gun, Vanilla Sky and the first Mission Impossible categorise the ambitious Jack Reacher as yet another collective to fill an empty space on the shelving.