Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher (2012)

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog, Robert Duvall

Jack Reacher (Cruise) is a former army investigator who has recently been drawn into a murder case. The accused killer is a former army sniper being defended by Helen (Pike), a charismatic attorney. As Reacher digs deeper into the evidence, he begins to find holes in the open and shut case the D.A. (Jenkins) and police seem to have. The holes in the investigation seem to lead Reacher into dangerous situations as powerful people get involved.

My first movie of the new year was a fun one. A good Tom Cruise action flick always seems to make me smile. Perhaps it’s the fact that he does them so well. This time he had a great director at the helm, and a great cast around him. Christopher McQuarrie is best known for the Oscar-winning screenplay he wrote for The Usual Suspects. He’s also worked on The Tourist and Valkyrie.

The cast of this movie includes Tom Cruise, of course. He takes on the title role with the same energy he showed in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol last year. The movie also stars Rosamund Pike (An Education), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), and David Oyelowo (Lincoln). One surprising addition to the cast is the director, producer, and sometimes actor Werner Herzog (Into the Abyss). The film also features Robert Duvall (Get Low) in a role that was really interesting and fun to see him in. Overall, I was surprised with the many familiar faces and the way they seemed to come together for this movie.

I thought the action would be the best element of this movie. I was wrong about this one. The story in this film is really good. Sure, it came from the book by Lee Child, a guy who’s written seventeen books featuring Jack Reacher.  It just translated to film really nicely.

The action really does a good job supplementing a really interesting story. Thank goodness that Tom Cruise is still up for the physical demands of these kind of films. It really makes this movie more fun since there aren’t a lot of nameless, faceless people doing stunts from awkward camera angles. With Cruise in the mix, the cameras could get right in on the action and it makes this a much more exciting movie to watch.

This is a fun and interesting movie from beginning to end. It’s in the same category as films like Die Hard with a good story, but also some serious stunt work and over-the-top moments. If you’re a fan of those kind of films this might be one worth checking out. I give this one 4.3 out of 5 stars.

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 130 minutes