[yasr_overall_rating]
A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper who shot five random victims.
When it was first announced that Tom Cruise would portray Jack Reacher, Lee Child’s fictitious U.S. Army Major who had been brought to life in a series of books, the internet went crazy. Reacher stands at an impressive 6 ft 5 in while Cruise, well, pales in comparison. Reacher is adept at hand-to-hand combat, is a skilled marksman, and trained extensively utilizing the Keysi Fighting Method. This wasn’t the first time Cruise was embroiled in a casting decision that upset fans. In 1994, Cruise played the lead vampire in the big-screen adaptation of Anne Rice’s book, “Interview with the Vampire.” With “Jack Reacher” however, Cruise confidently stepped into the tall man’s shoes and managed to successfully embody his physical and emotional traits. As author Lee Child stated at the time, “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.” When Cruise’s height was brought into question, he responded, “With another actor, you might get 100% of the height but only 90% of Reacher. With Tom, you’ll get 100% of Reacher with 90% of the height.”
The movie starts with a sniper in Philadelphia, shooting and killing five supposed random people. When James Barr (Joseph Sikora), an ex-Marine sniper, is arrested and accused of the atrocity, with his fingerprints having been lifted from the crime scene, he is told by the police that he will either spend the rest of his life in prison or will receive the death penalty. When Detective Emerson (David Oyelowo), the officer in charge of the investigation, tells Barr to just confess and get it over with quickly to avoid a costly and lengthy trial, he writes down three words, “Get Jack Reacher!” Naturally, Emerson and District Attorney Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins), have never heard of Jack Reacher but upon further investigation, they discover all they need to know: a decorated U.S. Army officer who won the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Soldier’s Medal, and the Purple Heart. Now living off the grid, he is impossible to find, unless he wants to find you. And that is exactly what he does.
When he turns up at Rodin’s office, he claims that he wants to help bury Barr as he received a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corp. years earlier for going on a shooting spree in Iraq and killing four contractors. At the time, Reacher was assigned to that case but neither he nor anybody else knew that the four men he killed were under investigation for a series of rape crimes and the army just wanted the whole situation to go away so the investigation was closed down and Barr was sent back to the U.S. When Barr’s defense attorney, Helen (Rosamund Pike), Rodin’s daughter, turns up, Reacher says he’d like to see the evidence against Barr but given Reacher’s reputation, she will only give him access if he agrees to become her lead investigator. He concurs but as he begins to dig deeper, he realizes that Barr was set up and used as a patsy in a case that could possibly involve the police and Helen’s father. When Reacher is framed for the murder of a young woman with ties to a shady corporation who have just set up shop in town, and who have been running scams all over the world, Reacher must utilize his skills to uncover the truth but when Helen is kidnapped, and the kidnappers threaten to kill her, he makes his way to an abandoned quarry, with the help of an old friend, Cash (Robert Duvall), to the ultimate showdown with a soldier who just might be better than him.
Tom Cruise has solidified his reputation as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars and with “Jack Reacher,” he proved that even at a sprightly 50 years old, he still had the moves that would make most of his younger co-stars green with envy. Performing most of his own stunts, including some hair-raising driving scenes, you cannot take your eyes off the man. “Jack Reacher” is evocative of the Jack Ryan series, where it is not non-stop action, but rather, action blended in with some intriguing scenes of exposition and drama that never gets boring. Not all films can boast those faucets but “Jack Reacher” has it in spades. Director Christopher McQuarrie, who would later go on to direct Cruise in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” and this summer’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” leads an excellent cast and keeps the twists and turns coming at breakneck speed, just like Cruise himself. The film is accompanied by a pulse-pounding soundtrack by composer Joe Kraemer and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel shoots Philadelphia in unambiguous tones, allowing you to see both the positive and negative sides of the city, an element not many movies allow. With the film’s 2016 follow-up, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” having underperformed at the box office, it’s unclear if we will get another Jack Reacher movie but here’s hoping because there are 18 more books to choose from.
Available on 4K Ultra HD Tuesday, June 26th
