Movie Review - Jack Reacher

Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher, even standing on its tippy toes, can only snag the trophy from just below top shelf.  Don't get me wrong, it's a solid action film with almost great acting, but somehow falls into the category of "saw it once, probably never see it again."

 

Why you ask?  Well, after a heart-pounding beginning that touches on recent headlines, the movie becomes cliché, after cliché.  Nothing in the plot stunned or shocked me.  The entire story seems to play it safe, without stepping on toes.  Now I haven't read the Lee Child book it's based on, so I can only talk from movie perspective (I can't seem to get past Lee Child's stunted sentences.  Sorry to any fans).  Like I said, it's a solid action film.  One you won't be sorry for watching, but one you won't brag about having seen either.

 

I have to get this out of way.  David Oyelowo: The detective looking into the case and into Reacher throughout the film is probably the worst actor I've seen on film in a long time.  And I'm not joking.  A Popsicle has better acting chops then this guy.  It wasn't that he couldn't handle the emotions; it's the over-acting I couldn't get past.

 

The first time you see him on screen is a close up shot of his face and it’s supposed to serious, but I busted out laughing.  His stupid facial expression caught me as something I would see on Saturday Night Live.  Terrible.  That shot instantly pulled me right out of the story and told me I was sitting in a theater nursing a drink and shoveling down popcorn.

 

It's sad really, because the opening sequence is heart felt and sad, and looks to push you into all kinds of emotions.  Instead, you get this “ham & egger” who looks like he should be posing for Mad TV.

"You're telling me, I have to stick this up my nose?"

 

I wonder—where do I remember Oyelowo from?  Oh, yeah…he was the only crap that came out of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”  He played the paper thin, bad guy who the reviews beat with the terrible-acting stick.  So, whoever did the casting for Jack Reacher, must have saw his acting in the “RPA” and thought—“Man this guy is astounding, hey we have nothing but top notch acting in the film so far, so let’s bring the bar down one but throwing this guy in the film.”

 

To balance his terribleness, you have sweet Rosamund Pike, whose charm lights up any room she’s in.  So when Oyelowo and Pike are in a scene together you pretty much get average-acting.  Just try to look at her face, instead of his.

 

Anyway, throwing Oyelowo aside or under the bus, depending how harsh you want to be, the rest of the cast is perfect for their roles.  Everyone who read the Lee Child books went bananas over the short-comings of Cruise, but to be honest, the guy can do action.  By now its second nature, but this may have also hurt the film.

 

Let's face it, we've seen Tom Cruise do it all: Scale high buildings, shoot bad guys, jump from airplanes, dance in his underwear, and even have sex on a train, so he's only re-treading water we've seen a million times.  Since the movie didn't have extravagant sets or any spectacular stunts (he does drive a car relatively fast at one point) it left you with a "eh" feeling at the end.

 

The plot itself had no real twists I'd write home about, and I pretty much “called it” a little before half way through.  I do wish I had read the book to compare the two, but this one sneaked up on me and I think everyone else who isn't a Lee Child fan.

 

The Film has one of the best endings to a car chase I've seen in a while, and you could look forward to that if you want...what?  You already saw that?  Oh, yeah—they pretty much showed you the best sequence in the film, during the trailer.  Well, crap.  Now, what do I talk about...

 

Jack Reacher is a solid action film when it's the only thing left on the shelf to watch.  If you haven't seen it in theaters, I would wait until it's a rental or on TV.  Now if it's a choice between this or say...The Notebook, then definitely pick this up, because there's almost a non-existent love story in it, and it would make a great date-night movie.

 

A Solid 2.5 out of 5 stars (minus 2 stars for Oyelowo’s terrible acting & ½ star for Cruise’s shortness)

 

If you read this review and shrugged your shoulders, don’t worry I did the same.  It’s what happens when you have a mediocre film, you’re pretty much guaranteed a mediocre review.  To lighten things up a bit and make this review instantly better I have good news:

 

Justified returns this Tuesday at 10pm on FX.

There, didn’t that make everything better?  I thought so.