Review of Jack Reacher (2012) by Thegodfatherson — 18 May 2013

Jack Reacher is not completely without its merits. Devout followers of Lee Child’s novels had trouble accepting Tom Cruise as the strapping, Viking-esque eponymous protagonist, but to reject Tommy Boy too early is a big mistake: for all the constantly-swirling controversy Cruise somehow continues to keep simmering, he’s as able to both fill seats and entertain now as he ever has been.

In fact, Cruise’s steely cool is perhaps Christopher McQuarrie’s film’s grandest asset. One can’t quite shake the fact, though, that there should be at the very least a bit more popcorn fun to Jack Reacher.

McQuarrie has assembled a sensational cast Richard Jenkins, Robert Duvall, and even our favorite thickly-accented fusspot Werner Herzog appear here but after the gleeful advent of their mere presence wears off, there’s not all that much for them to do.

Jack Reacher wants to be a new kind of Mission: Impossible where Bourne Supremacy-esque action replaces any deep need for well-rounded character, but McQuarrie and Cruise never fully get around to successfully making their case.

This is easily-digestible Hollywood fare, to be sure, but there’s not quite enough meat on the bone here.