Jack Reacher

Less Action, More Suspense

Here today, I woke up abnormally early around 5:30am after going to sleep at 2am, and got most of my day's work done by mid-afternoon. I was to meet up with some friends at 6pm, so I wanted to fill the time with some entertainment. What better entertainment do I enjoy than a trip to the movie theatre? (answer, if you don't know: none). There are numerous films I still really want to see yet this year (Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Killing Me Softly, Life of Pi, to name a few), but unfortunately none of these films had time slots appropriate to their running time for me to be done before 6 o'clock. Except one new film, a film that had piqued my interest for three reasons: 1) a fairly interesting trailer, 2) my admiration of Tom Cruise as an actor, and 3) the debate and controversy around Cruise's casting in this film. This film being Jack Reacher. So I went to see it.

Firstly, I know nothing about the character of Jack Reacher aside from what I've read in some articles about why Cruise was a horrible choice. I've never read the books; in fact, I'd never heard of them before now. Secondly, I am a huge fan of Tom Cruise (as an actor). He's turned in performances ranging from egocentric (Rain Man), to cocky (The Hustler), to self-pitying (Born on the Fourth of July), to love struck (Jerry Maguire), to chauvinistic (Magnolia), to utterly hilarious (Tropic Thunder). Just to name a few. There's a lot of criticism against him, which I honestly suspect has more to do with his bizarre religious beliefs than his actual acting ability. A bad actor doesn't receive three Oscar and seven Golden Globe nominations (with three wins in the latter category). Anyway, I understand some of the complaints, especially from fans of the novels - where Reacher is described as being 6'5" tall, around 250 pounds, with the ability to break a man's neck with one hand. More like The Dark Knight Rise's Bane than Tom Cruise. But that's just part of his physical appearance. The film accurately depicts the remainder, of which I read after viewing the film, from his various scars, to his demeanor and personality. This is all what I glean from the wikipedia about the character of Reacher from the Lee Child novels. Child who himself supported the casting of Cruise, saying that "with another actor you might get 100% of the height but only 90% of Reacher. With Tom, you'll get 100% of Reacher with 90% of the height."

Okay, enough of that - I haven't read the books, I don't really care how tall Tom Cruise is, as much as I don't care how nutty his religious views may be. Acting is an art, and he's a fine artist. In a (somewhat) similar vein, Roman Polanski is still a fantastic filmmaker, despite his heinous crime. What's important is the film. And so onward to that...

Jack Reacher was just released yesterday (edit: the review date indicates Sun Dec 23, though I saw the film and wrote the review on Saturday), and other than some of the complaints I had read of Cruise's casting due to major physical differences, and the trailers, I knew nothing of it, and had no idea what the critical response has been (though I did look up it's RottenTomatoes rating after seeing it - currently it holds a 62%). It just seemed like some fun entertainment starring a very entertaining actor, so I went to see it. So what did I think? To summarize it very briefly, I was awestruck by its intelligence, style, entertainment, and the talent on display in all regards (acting, writing, directing, cinematography, etc.).

A little on the story. It opens with a sniper picking off five seemingly random individuals in Pittsburgh. Shortly after, a former army sniper named James Barr is arrested by the police. His finger prints are on a quarter inserted into a meter at the location where the sniper fired. Pretty much all the evidence is there to make this an open and shut case. Barr, under interrogation, utters not as a word, but simply writes on a piece of paper: "Find Jack Reacher." Shortly after, Barr is beaten by fellow inmates nearly to death, and falls into a coma. His attorney, Helen (Rosamund Pike, who also played a lawyer in Fracture), never got a chance to speak to him. She also happens to be the daughter of District Attorney Alex (Richard Jenkins). Certainly no conflict of interest there. Another key character is lead detective of the Pittsburgh P.D. Emerson (David Oyelowo), who like the D.A. believes this to be open and shut. As they're all discussing Jack Reacher, who he is, and how to find him - which they determine is impossible - there's a knock on the door, and in steps Reacher.

Jack Reacher is a former Army Military Police Officer, once a Major, demoted to Captain, then promoted back to Major. Tons of accolades, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and a Purple Heart. Two years ago, though, he disappeared, and has been a drifter - no home, no address. He collects his pension at Western Unions in cash. He travels with one pair of clothes that he washes in the hotel sink. And he has a history with James Barr - years ago, in Afghanistan, Barr had been trained as a sharpshooter, but never once shot anybody. So one day, after being notifying he was leaving, he shot some people in an alley. For reasons unimportant in this review, he was never punished for that crime. Reacher believes him to be one of those people who joins the Army because they like to kill people - and he made Barr a promise that if he ever did anything similar again, he'd find him. He saw the news coverage of Barr, so he showed up, believing Barr to be guilty based on his past history.

Helen urges Reacher to look at the case evidence, but Reacher has no real interest in that. Barr will likely receive the death penalty, and Reacher is convinced of his guilt, so he's happy. But, of course, Reacher does decide to look into the case, and this is where the plot truly kicks off. From there, it unfolds, never much as I imagined it would, at a solid, visceral, almost neo-noir pace and style.

Writer/Director Christopher McQuarrie, most well-known for his Oscar-winning film The Usual Suspects, employs a simplistic, yet highly ingenious story-telling technique: dramatic irony. Unlike (most of) the characters in the film, the audience knows from the very beginning whether James Barr shot those five people. In so doing, McQuarrie wisely side-steps involving the audience in that particular mystery, enabling him to enhance the suspense and pose questions that are more fascinating, engaging, and thrilling. A lesser screenplay would have been riddled with car chases, shoot-outs, and tons of hand-to-hand combat (*cough* Taken 2). Jack Reacher superbly strips down the action and withholds it from us, building suspense, until it explodes with a visceral tension. When the film's lone car chase and shoot-out occur, I tried not to blink, not wanting to miss a moment. Reacher is slow-moving and shrewd; when the action ramps up, so did my heartbeat.

Robert Duvall plays a small, but crucial role

Cruise is in fine form here. Unlike many Cruise action films, such as the Mission Impossible franchise, he is (almost) never seen running. This is, as I understand it, true to Reacher character of the novels. Cruise portrays Reacher as a stoic, highly intelligent, witty, calculating, and reserved person. He speaks much less than other characters in the film, but when he does speak, you damn well better listen. And much of what he says is hilarious; cutting people down to size and exposing their naïveté with clever quips. Even more fascinating, I never forgot that I was watching Tom Cruise - at least not in the way that some actors completely disappear, like Russell Crowe in The Insider, or Daniel Day-Lewis in, well, anything. This isn't a slight against Cruise, however - it is praise. Cruise's facial emotions are subtle, yet utterly effective. He rarely speaks, but we always know when his mind is ticking, putting the pieces together.

Beyond McQuarrie's surprisingly exceptional screenplay, his direction is brilliant. Another director may have been inclined to focus mostly on the action potential of the story and characters. McQuarrie realizes the been-there-done-that pitfalls of such approach, and bravely chooses to build suspense to a breaking point and then unleash the action. In this way, it reminded me of last year's masterpiece Drive, though it has not the perfection or highly original style of that film.

"Do you think I'm a hero?"

Jack Reacher is the most surprising film I've seen this year. My only expectation was a mindless action film that might be serviceable. I was pleasantly wrong. This is far from mindless. Far from merely serviceable. It is an energetic piece of entertainment that judiciously understands why so many action films are some of the most hollow, boring films to see the inside of a theatre.

I rate films based on a number of qualities: their craftsmanship (directing, writing, cinematography, editing, etc.); their acting; their resonance with me. But most of all, I award ratings based on the effect of the film on me. Did it move me in the way it was intended? For a horror film, was I disturbed, horrified, or frightened? For a comedy, did I laugh? For a drama, it may be a variety of emotions, from drawing tears to resonating with me personally. For a thriller, was I thrilled? On this basis, I cannot deny Jack Reacher a four-star rating.

****/****