Review of Jack Reacher (2012) by Andy V — 25 Jan 2014

Have you seen crime thrillers such as "Bullitt" (1968), "Serpico" (1973), or even "Dirty Harry" (1971) which center on cops who go beyond the call of duty and even break a couple laws to bring a person to justice for their crimes? If your answer is "yes", then guess what? You've already seen writer-director Christopher McQuarrie's 2012 crime thriller "Jack Reacher". Actually, let me rephrase that. You haven't just already seen "Jack Reacher" before. You've seen every tired plot point and cliché that this film and other films like it use over and over and over again with no trace of evolving whatsoever. Now, if you were a fan of this typical cop picture formula to begin with and don't mind seeing it countlessly, this film may be fine as far as that's concerned. But for the rest of us who aren't, this is pretty much a long sit.

Tom Cruise plays the title character Jack Reacher, a former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer who is sent to Pittsburgh to investigate the killing of five innocent people. Based on the evidence that was uncovered (Seriously, are suspects really too careless about tracing their footsteps in real-life as films seem to be implying?), the primary suspect seems to be a former U.S. Army sniper from Iraq. The sniper's defense attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike) asks Jack to assist her in trying to spare the death penalty on her client by looking for more evidence. Jack is reluctant to do so at first seeing that he can't assist the client after his killing spree in Iraq which he needs to be forgotten, but eventually agrees. What follows is Jack getting closer to the truth with the clues and people he comes across and that's it.

There were only a few things about this picture that worked on me. The acting, for example, isn't that bad although it relies on Tom Cruise's star power more so than characters with actual emotional impact. Also, the screenwriters at least didn't force a love story into the mix between Jack and either Helen or a hooker (whom Jack gets acquainted with later in the picture). And at least the writers didn't force Jack to have a mental breakdown to the point where he has to quit the case and then come back again. There are also a few decent scenes that get a good smirk such as Cruise getting out of a moving vehicle and allowing it to run by itself (I think that scene's in one of the film's trailers). Aside from that, nothing - I mean nothing - about this movie was even remotely original.

You know a film's in trouble when the main tagline for its posters says: "The law has limits. He does not." Seriously, is this the best tagline that they could come up with for their movie posters? I'm surprised they even went with one if that's the case. What's sad is that this pitiful tagline sums up the film and its problems in a nutshell. "Jack Reacher" is simply too derivative. The characters are all recycled out of other films of its type. You have the main character who's basically "Dirty Harry" only played by Tom Cruise. Been there, done that. There's also a soldier from the Army who becomes convicted of a crime on the homeland. Also been there, done that. Someone who works alongside Jack on this case may have actually committed the crime. Wow! Been. There. Done. That.

It's not just the story and characters that bore me to death, since the dialogue is written in the most lifeless way possible just like every other film of its genre. I really don't care about the boring protocol or procedures of police detectives and whatnot, and I will continue not to for a very long time. Can't we just have detectives that get straight to the point with what they have to say, please? I knew this film was going to be dull just by watching the trailers. I can't even think about anything else to talk about that's how little this film mattered to me. All I can say to you is just take my advice for what it's worth and skip this one.