Rating of
3/4
Cruise Control!
MovieAddict - wrote on 05/19/13
"You think I'm a hero, I'm not a hero. I'm a drifter with nothing to lose."
Tom Cruise plays Jack Reacher, a rough ex-military cop who is enjoying early retirement in near paranoid solitude. When a former army sniper, James Barr expertly shoots and kills five random people at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during broad daylight, the police are quick to arrest him.
Barr claims to be innocent however, and writes "Get Jack Reacher" on a notepad after he is brutally attacked by fellow inmates while the police are transporting him. Cruise gives a credible and engaging performance as the rough and tough investigator with a mysterious past who soon realizes the stakes are much bigger than what he signed up for when he attempts to solve the cold-blooded murders and motive behind it. Armed with quick one-liners and some macho moves, there seem to be nothing Reacher can't handle. He is a well oiled machine mentally and physically and he can drive a car in reverse at Formula One speed. Also, he doesn't just jump into bed with every beautiful woman, even though there's obvious female interest from Alexia Fast who plays a character called Sandy as well as our district attorney who gets all hot under the collar when our hero strips his shirt off and it is a mighty fine chest our hero reveals…..ohhh la la.
'Jack Reacher' does sport some terrific villains. It is great to witness Director Werner Herzog's ruthless and menacing performance as the Zek, a former Siberian prisoner who is evil inside and out and gives one of his minions the choice of death by execution or chewing his own fingers off and be left alive and then there is the talented Australian hunk, Jai Courtney. I particularly enjoyed Courtney's final scene when the guns were dropped and we had some intense mano-to-mano fisticuffs ensuing.
Guns, Action, Muscle cars! What is there not to like? Robert Duval shows up as a grizzled owner of a gun range named Cash, Richard Jenkins portrays Police Commissioner Rodin, Rosamund Pike plays Helen, the defense attorney defending Barr and the butt-kicking Tom Cruise has a set of skills that might be enough to make even Liam Neeson shake in his boots. Towards the last few moments of the movie I was even expecting him to say something like "I will find you and hunt you down." Those who’ve seen the movie should know which part I am referring to.
