JACK REACHER – The Review

Looks like Tom Cruise has begun another big screen franchise. After starring as Ethan Hunt in four hit films based on the classic 1960’s TV show “Mission: Impossible”, he’s turned to the literary world for the first film based on the long-running (17 books and counting) hero created by author Lee Childs, JACK REACHER. For this adaptation of “One Shot”, Cruise (also the film’s producer) has brought a long a frequent script collaborator Christopher McQuarrie (VALKYRIE, but perhaps best known for THE USUAL SUSPECTS) to direct also (his first feature since 2000’s THE DAY OF THE GUN). Robert Downey,Jr bounces back and forth between Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, so why can’t Cruise be a part of a super spy team and a loner ex-military cop? It all depends on whether this initial outing is worthy of a follow-up.

This first screen thriller/mystery begins with a lone sniper expertly killing five people in a peaceful Pittsburgh park. After collecting the evidence, police detective Emerson (David Oyelowo) arrests a war vet/ army sniper named Barr. Emerson and public defender Rodin (Richard Jenkins) interrogate Barr and pass him a legal pad to write out his confession. Instead, he writes, “Get Jack Reacher”. But how to find him? Reacher, an ex Army police investigator, has no permanent address, no car (he travels by bus), no cell phone, and no charge cards (he pays cash for everything, including new clothes from Goodwill, via wire transfer from his military pension). After Barr is beaten into a coma during a botched prisoner transfer, Reacher arrives at Barr’s hospital. Seems that Reacher had helped convict Barr of a shooting incident overseas (the conviction later kicked out). Before he can leave, Reacher is hired by Barr’s pro-bono defense attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), the PD’s daughter, to exonerate Barr. Reacher’s investigation unearths an intricate vast conspiracy and puts him and Helen on a collision course with a shadowy mastermind, The Zec (Werner Herzog).

Cruise brings his usual intensity to this combination of Sherlock Holmes (the guy really observes) and the Punisher (do not lean on him). Reacher has that “steel trap” brain and needs no notepads. His stoic confidence provides this often grim thriller with some very funny moments. He can also be kind as when he offers some much-needed advice to a young girl on the wrong path. Reacher’s boss/partner Helen is usually regulated to the “damsel-in-distress” particularly in the finale. Pike seems to spend most of the time indignant, angry, or wide-eyed with fear. At about the midway point the costumers (or more likely the producers) decided she should dress more like a cocktail waitress than lawyer, so that she’s nearly bouncing out of her top while escaping the bad guys. Pike’s a talented actress, but this choice distracts from her character. Jenkins and Oyelowo are a great team as they try to deal with Reacher’s quirks and talents (with Oyelowo a determined pursuer of him later). Cruise’s old DAYS OF THUNDER co-star Robert Duvall shows up late in the film to steal scenes as the helpful owner of a gun range. The two are a terrific team in the film’s big showdown. The most inspired casting may be acclaimed director Herzog as the shadowy, sinister mastermind . His cool, calming German accent brings an extra bit of creepy menace to the proceedings.

McQuarrie keeps things moving at a brisk pace that makes the 130 minutes almost breeze by. He puts a new spin on the downtown car chase that concludes with perhaps the film’s funniest moment. There’s also a couple of great sequences that show off Reacher’s considerable hand-to-hand combat skills. You can almost feel every bit of punishment he dishes out the pain to these unlucky thugs (there goes another fracture-crunch! snap!). There’s expert use of the Pittsburgh locations too (and I just knew it as the home of George A Romero’s zombie epics). JACK REACHER is a gritty, brutal thriller that’s a great alternative to December’s family fare and high drama Oscar-bait. Let’s hope Cruise and company are able to revisit this new movie action hero/sleuth in the near future.

4 Out of 5 Stars