Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is, in my opinion, worth the price of admission. It has everything you would and could want in a movie and then some. It's a well made, taut film with nothing lacking, for that I give Jack Reacher three buckets of Killer Korn.



Now whether you love him or hate him (and I know a lot of you hate him), you should definitely check out Tom Cruise's new film, Jack Reacher. I know, I know, a lot of you out there are probably under the impression that this movie sucks but trust me, it is far better than you think it is and far better than what you've read about (so far anyway). Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who brought you the immensely entertaining Way of the Gun starring Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro, now brings to the screen one of fictions most popular characters, Jack Reacher. Now when the man who would being playing the 6'5" Reacher was announced, pretty much the whole world groaned, including yours truly. We all thought "Not HIM! Anybody but HIM!", am I right? Seriously Tom Cruise is about 5'7" on a good day while wearing lifts but I have to tell you, where he falls short in the physicality department, he more than makes up in the embodiment of the character.

For those of you that have never read one of the sixteen Reacher novels written by Lee Child, Jack Reacher is a retired MP who never stops until he's gotten to the truth. He's a relentless investigator and in this movie he is summoned by James Barr, played by Joseph Sikora, a man Jack investigated before, a man who has been arrested for mass murder. The DA, played by Richard Jenkins and detective Emerson, played by David Oyelowo are discussing Reacher and just how hard he is to find. He's a ghost, no known address, no p.o. box and gets his pension wired to him to points unknown, basically, he's off the grid. Just was the two men pretty much chalk it up to never finding Reacher, he walks in on their meeting. The lawyer defending Barr is Helen Rodin played by owl eyed Rosamund Pike who has some very interesting encounters with Reacher.

Initially Reacher believes Barr is guilty and has come to Pittsburgh to make sure he gets thrown into the deepest darkest cell in Pennsylvania. However, the more Reacher and Helen dig the more Reacher thinks his earlier feelings were wrong. In the midst of coming to that train of thought, there are car chases, fist fights, threats, betrayal, and murder and not necessarily in that order. In the middle of all that chaos is Reacher, the one constant beacon of truth and forward movement. The man never sleeps, hardly eats but he's like a shark, always moving, never stopping. While moving and digging, he happens to come upon a very dangerous individual named Charlie who is played charmingly by Jai Courtney. That's when Reacher enlists the aid of Cash played with grace and humor by Robert Duvall. Reacher and Cash take on Charlie and his henchmen in a well thought out battle.

I have not read the Reacher novel this movie is adapted from, entitled One Shot, and probably won't since I am not a fan of Lee Child's writing. I am a fan however of this movie. Like I stated earlier, it has everything you could possibly want in a movie these days except sex which is a good thing. Sex would just muddy the waters and since Reacher conducts himself almost like a monk when working a case, the lack of sex makes sense. McQuarrie does an outstanding job in both directing and writing this film. His dialogue is witty and humorous and the action sequences are never lacking and his choice of Joe Kraemer to score the movie was perfect. Joe delivers a tense, heavy score that compliments this movie on every level and he gives Reacher an almost heroic theme, even though Reacher wants you to believe that he's not a hero. If you want to see something worth the price of admission then forget who is playing Jack Reacher and see Jack Reacher because honestly, you will thank me and I will see you at the theater.