Nothing new, but nothing bad

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2014)

I'm a casual fan of Tom Cruise, so I just watched this regardless. I didn't know much about the book, so I can't comment on how accurate it is to its source material. I thought it would be more action-packed - like a kind of vigilante going round seeking revenge on your general baddies. As it turned out, it's more like a cop movie (but without a cop as the lead character). What action there is is all right, plus the acting is fair and it is not hard to see that money has been put into this movie.
Tom Cruise is an ex military policeman who's investigating a seemingly motiveless sniper who killed five apparently innocent civilians. No sooner is he on the case does he meet the unfeasible attractive attorney, played by Rosamund Pike. I found this aspect of the film the most far-fetched - you know instantly that she's going to be the 'will-they/won't they' love interest of the film.
From then on, the film follows a typical template for this kind of movie. It's played absolutely straight (a bit like the 'Bourne' films, but without the near-constant chase scenes all the way through) and it doesn't really add anything original to the genre of action/thriller movies.
If you're looking for a bit of a conspiracy thriller with a plot that slowly unravels, this isn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours (plus it's nice to see Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall sharing the screen again since Days of Thunder). If you can believe that every single female in American that meets Tom Cruise wants to bed him, whether she's twice his age of half his age, then you should find this enjoyable.
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