This review is written from the point of view of someone who
has read the book before watching the movie and is a big fan of the Jack
Reacher series of books by Lee Child.
“How to fuck up a book in two hours?”. This could have been
the alternate name for Jack Reacher, the motion picture based on the book One
Shot by Child.
I know it is very difficult to incorporate all the details
of a five hundred page book into a two hour long movie. But, to chop off the
important parts and to reveal the main culprit, who is disclosed during the
last 50 pages of the book, in the first two minutes of the movie, is plain
idiotic. It changes the book from a whodunit and makes it more of a star
vehicle for the actor/producer of the movie Tom Cruise.
Talking about Mr. Cruise, not only is he physically dissimilar
to Jack Reacher (6 feet 5 inches, chest 50 inches according to the Reacher’s CV
, given before the beginning of every book), he just doesn’t look comfortable
in the part. Reacher is a loner, an ex-military cop who you don’t want to mess
around with and who spouts just about the coolest one-liners in recent memory.
Cruise looks ill at ease and I felt like laughing out loud in scenes where he
is shown threatening people with grave body damage if they don’t do as he says.
However, for those who haven’t read the book, this is a
better than average movie. The book is dumbed down for the audience in its
adaptation and the pacing doesn’t allow the viewer to think too much. The
action scenes look a bit unnatural because of Cruise’s built. However, the
twists, as they are, keep coming thick and fast.
In the acting department, besides Uncle Tom, there is the
brilliant Robert Duvall in a very good cameo act. His presence on the big
screen uplifts the viewer because it is clearly visible that he is having a
ball in his role.
The direction by Christopher McQuarrie is competent
considering this is his first movie after a gap of twelve years. It is the
screenplay, written by Child himself along with McQuarrie, which really keeps
this from becoming a great mystery movie.
This would be enjoyed by fans of Cruise. Those of Reacher
should stay away.
Watching this has made me realize how much I have missed
Reacher during the past month and has increased my craving for his latest book,
A Wanted Man.
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