When a sniper shoots randomly five victims, Detective Emerson finds evidence to incriminate the former paranoid marine James Barr. It is an easy case for the prosecutor Rodin, but Barr refuses to sign the confession and he calls Jack Reacher. When he is transported to prison in a bus, the other prisoners beat him and Barr goes to the hospital in coma. The pacifist attorney Helen Rodin, who is the daughter of the prosecutor, decides to defend him but Jack Reacher is a former marine investigator that left the army and has become an unknown drifter. Out of the blue, Jack appears in the city and Helen invites him to work for her investigating the case. Soon he finds that the culprit is innocent and there is a conspiracy behind the murders. A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper who shot five random victims. Back in 1997 Lee Child published his first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor. I read it, was mightily unimpressed (you'll love it if Dan Brown's literary prowess rocks your world) and forgot he existed. Then Lee made it big. Very big. He sold the rights to his ninth (were the first eight no good???) novel, One Shot, and the world went nuts over the casting of 5'7" Tom Cruise to play 6'5" giant Jack Reacher.<br/><br/>Cruise's height is not an issue, so if you're a fan of the books quit your whinging. Cruise is a big enough star to fill Reacher's boots and the problems with this film have nothing to do with the actor's stature. It's just not a great film.<br/><br/>If you're looking for light, easy, disposable entertainment that won't require you to engage your brain then Jack Reacher may suffice, if you've already watched Seven Psychopaths, Skyfall, Tower Block I'm sure you catch my drift.<br/><br/>Jack Reacher is a war veteran with no past, no driving licence and no way of tracking him. He's a shadow and he'll contact you if and when he wants to. When James Barr is accused of randomly shooting five pedestrians, he says simply "Get Jack Reacher" and as DA Rodin (Richard Jenkins) and cop Emmerson (David Oyelowo) are attempting to work out why and how to do just that, in walks Jack Reacher. Over the next two hours or so he and prosecutor Helen (Rosamund Pike), who happens to be Rodin's daughter, attempt to prove Barr's guilt (or innocence, depending on which side you sit). While Helen attempts something vaguely resembling intelligent investigation, she recruits Reacher as her investigator and he favours the results gained by beating the crap out of people and we're supposed to believe he doesn't want to use such methods and is really a sincere, thoughtful bloke who wants to be left alone. It's about as convincing as James Bond being a secret agent but telling everyone who he is – just a great deal less entertaining.<br/><br/>It's plinky plonk filmmaking again; all rather predictable and convoluted and I rather lost interest part way through and opted instead to count how many times the bloke in front checked his mobile phone (eight times) and the man behind farted (only twice but they were truly horrendous). Earlier this year, Cruise gave us Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. It was far-fetched, well crafted and very entertaining in a way Jack Reacher cannot hope to attain. It's all so wooly, has little pace and lacks anything to really compel the viewer to engage with it.<br/><br/>There are some fine touches including the stunt in the trailer where Reacher abandons the car and a sequence that establishes who, how and when each civilian was murdered, but at the heart of Christopher McQuarrie's second film as director (after The Way of the Gun) is a couple that has less on-screen chemistry than Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Cleopatra (i.e. not much!). If McQuarrie can't be bothered to hire a convincing actress or cast two stars that spark together, I can't be bothered to persuade you to watch his film.<br/><br/>Why would you when there are so many others out there? It's been reported that McQuarrie, who also wrote Jack Reacher, and Cruise will reunite for Mission: Impossible 5. Let's hope it's the McQuarrie who won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects that turns up and not the one who gave us the worst Tom Cruise film this year.<br/><br/>It's not awful. It's just not terribly good and, for all its flaws, Skyfall is by far the better option for simple entertainment that's still on general release.<br/><br/>For more reviews from The Squiss subscribe to my blog at www.thesquiss.co.uk<br/><br/>Like the Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/RpitOG Following the massacre of five seemingly random people, a former military sniper named Barr demands to speak to "Jack Reacher". The District Attorney (Richard Jenkins) and the lead Detective (David Oyelowo) meet the mysterious Reacher, a former Military Policeman who has dropped off the grid for the past few years but reappeared on the behest of Barr. Reacher works with private attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike) to find out the real question: is Barr actually guilty, or the pawn in a much larger game?<br/><br/>"Jack Reacher" is based on an excellent book series by Lee Child. "One Shot", this film's premise, is actually the ninth book in the series, but had one of the most intriguing premises to make a movie on. Tom Cruise produced the film, and under the direction Christopher McQuarrie we have an action blockbuster that doesn't dumb itself down and keeps the audience asking questions as the intelligently-laden suspense slowly provides answers. <br/><br/>Tom Cruise tends to play effectively the same role whenever you see him in a movie, and here he does a great job playing Ethan Hunt's stunt double. Reacher is very smart and uses his military experience to put together realizations no one else would be able to. Cruise is funny and relatable here. It may be one of his best performances yet, especially in an action film. <br/><br/>Rosamund Pike is as gorgeous as she is a good actress. Here she is tasked with making conclusions at the pace of the audience, and looking great opposite Reacher (no question as to either of those abilities). The only problem with her character is the lack of much character development. She is the leading lady and that's sadly the extent of her role. <br/><br/>The supporting cast is a truly eclectic mix of actors you wouldn't expect to see together. The director Werner Herzog plays a murderous mobster Siberian who spent time in the infamous gulags and was forced to earn his name of "the Prisoner". Robert Duvall plays a former Gunnie who befriends Reacher and helps with the investigation. Jenkins isn't in the film much but is as good as he always is. <br/><br/>Problems come through where they typically do in an action movie: the script. The Prisoner's connection with the mystery is never laid out in a clear way; we are forced to make a lot of our own conclusions, none of them it would seem are correct. Barr's connections and the reveal of who is "in on it" don't hang together as well as they should. But none of that really matters. <br/><br/>"Jack Reacher" is an intelligent, comedic, always interesting action movie that kept my attention, and for that I am grateful. In terms of pure pop entertainment value, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more smartly constructed, beautifully shot, pulse-pounding movie this holiday season.
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