As a fan of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books, I was looking forward to seeing this film, and had a number of reactions afterwards.
First: the casting of Tom Cruise was fine for the most part. I noticed they cast a lot of other short (i.e. average height) actors around him, although Reacher is supposed to be 6'5" or something. The bit where Cruise plays Reacher hiding in a bus stop crowd is great and Cruise shows just a wry grin that's appropriate. Unfortunately, his megawatt movie star smile is too much for Reacher.
The other thing I realized, too, was that Cruise is actually not far from the right age and does a good job thinking (so much of Reacher is about thinking, you need an actor who can convey that). I'm wondering who else in the age range conveys that internal gear turning. Perhaps Bryan Cranston (aka Breaking Bad's Walter White)? Frankly, a lot of that is in the editing and having the director linger on a face that's not actually "doing" anything.
Second: reading about violence is very different from watching it. I love the Terminator films and other scenes of mass carnage, but the Reacher universe is a realistic world and thus all the collateral damage feels a lot worse. This movie is based on One Shot, and I think that was the 2nd or 3rd Reacher novel I read. For my taste, I like that Reacher is basically a smart detective, not bound by legalities, but basically a guy who observes and thinks and calculates and figures stuff out. That's what I like about the books, and I'm glad the bad guys get their just reward, but mostly I enjoy being privy to the thought process.
Again, as someone who enjoys R-rated action films, I guess the idea of a nanny getting killed while holding a 7 year old girl is just a little too much for me). Also, the scene where The Zec proves how tough he is is funny/horrible in a Carl Hiassen sort of way in the book. In the movie, sick and sadistic and not all that funny.
Third: I love that the actors all basically break character when they meet Robert Duvall's character. I hadn't realized that Duvall was in the movie. You can clearly see, though, that when Cruise, and then later Rosamund Pike are introduced to Duvall, their faces light up, like, "Awesome, I'm in a scene with Robert freaking Duvall." On the one hand, lame. On the other hand, awesome, because, let's face it, he's Robert freaking Duvall.
Fourth: enjoyed Lee Child's cameo as a police sergeant. They actually gave him a bit of acting that gave me a chuckle.
Overall, this was a relatively faithful adaptation, given the compression necessary to get all the plot on film. Most importantly, Reacher's character made it to the screen intact.
First: the casting of Tom Cruise was fine for the most part. I noticed they cast a lot of other short (i.e. average height) actors around him, although Reacher is supposed to be 6'5" or something. The bit where Cruise plays Reacher hiding in a bus stop crowd is great and Cruise shows just a wry grin that's appropriate. Unfortunately, his megawatt movie star smile is too much for Reacher.
The other thing I realized, too, was that Cruise is actually not far from the right age and does a good job thinking (so much of Reacher is about thinking, you need an actor who can convey that). I'm wondering who else in the age range conveys that internal gear turning. Perhaps Bryan Cranston (aka Breaking Bad's Walter White)? Frankly, a lot of that is in the editing and having the director linger on a face that's not actually "doing" anything.
Second: reading about violence is very different from watching it. I love the Terminator films and other scenes of mass carnage, but the Reacher universe is a realistic world and thus all the collateral damage feels a lot worse. This movie is based on One Shot, and I think that was the 2nd or 3rd Reacher novel I read. For my taste, I like that Reacher is basically a smart detective, not bound by legalities, but basically a guy who observes and thinks and calculates and figures stuff out. That's what I like about the books, and I'm glad the bad guys get their just reward, but mostly I enjoy being privy to the thought process.
Again, as someone who enjoys R-rated action films, I guess the idea of a nanny getting killed while holding a 7 year old girl is just a little too much for me). Also, the scene where The Zec proves how tough he is is funny/horrible in a Carl Hiassen sort of way in the book. In the movie, sick and sadistic and not all that funny.
Third: I love that the actors all basically break character when they meet Robert Duvall's character. I hadn't realized that Duvall was in the movie. You can clearly see, though, that when Cruise, and then later Rosamund Pike are introduced to Duvall, their faces light up, like, "Awesome, I'm in a scene with Robert freaking Duvall." On the one hand, lame. On the other hand, awesome, because, let's face it, he's Robert freaking Duvall.
Fourth: enjoyed Lee Child's cameo as a police sergeant. They actually gave him a bit of acting that gave me a chuckle.
Overall, this was a relatively faithful adaptation, given the compression necessary to get all the plot on film. Most importantly, Reacher's character made it to the screen intact.
