jc-osms I'm not familiar with the Lee Childs' novels on the Jack Reacher character but I do remember the media hoopla over the rather diminutive Tom Cruise being cast as a plus 6' male. The other just-as-important matter for consideration is whether he can carry off such a tough-as-nails persona. I know you could argue that Ethan in the Mission Impossible franchise is similarly indestructible but I don't think even that characterisation calls for the sheer cussedness of Reacher here and in the end I think he falls short (no pun intended).The film starts off with an intriguing set-up as a lone assassin, in a scenario too sadly familiar from real life, ruthlessly guns down five apparently random people. However a series of perhaps too obvious clues leads to an ex-military marksman being arrested for the crime who breaks his silence only to reach out (sorry!) for Reacher to come to his aid.From there though it goes down a rather predictable set of paths which I personally doubt would be as written in the novel, like the way Reacher takes down five toughs sent to scare him off the scent in the now familiar ninja-style from any number of Marvel / DC movies or even TV series or the inevitable car chase through the night streets of Pittsburgh. I had also guessed the killer's M.O. too although there's a satisfaction of course in so doing.I also felt that the conclusion in the driving rain as Reacher, with the unlikely help of mean and ornery target range owner Robert Duvall faces off against the Mr Big, his right-hand man and assorted henchmen, as you'd expect taking them down one by one until there were none as the saying goes. Personally I felt a little awkward seeing Duvall's trigger-happy character being lionised as he was, in this day and age.In the final analysis I felt I'd have probably preferred to read the source novel more than watch this Hollywood blown-up version. I was entertained but too many of the situations and characterisations seemed hackneyed, repetitive and derivative for me to really savour what I had hoped would be a grittier detective drama and not just the outsized actioner it proved to be in the end.

Michael Ledo The film opens up like "Basic" with one man requesting another. A man (Joseph Sikora) is accused of random shootings. The evidence is overwhelmingly against him. In Iraq he was a sniper. Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) arrives as a brash and cocky individual, a role Tom Cruise has perfected. Jack is elusive. Eventually he takes on the task as the lead investigator for the accused. His lawyer (Rosamund Pike) happens to be the daughter of the prosecutor (Richard Jenkins). As Jack investigates, things are not what they seem which draws us into the story.Unfortunately the mystery is short lived as clues come too fast. It then resorts to an us vs. them with a car chase scene that lasted way to long for this type of crime drama. The script was otherwise well done. Acting was as we would expect from the cast. Makes for a decent rental. There could be a Jack Reacher sequel, hopefully with some complexity. This is another film shot in Pittsburgh, the Hollywood of the East.Parental Guide: 1 F-bomb, no sex or nudity. Some spicy language and sexual references.

dandbone It's an ok action movie. My main problem with it is the misuse of Tom Cruise's star power. Jack Reacher, the main character, is painted as a somewhat arrogant and legendary former military police. He is so arrogant that he makes mistakes that should have cost his life (movie life) a dozen times. How does someone like that live to become legendary? He's also a "ghost", but gets tracked down not only by the police, but also by random thugs. Anyway, that's the stuff that prevented me to enjoy the movie. If the director wanted to use Tom Cruise right, he should have watched Top Gun and Mission Impossible first.I was watching his co-star, Rosamund Pike, and I swear the hair stylist made her look like Ingrid Bergman in her good Casablanca days. This was among my top 2 reasons why I watched this movie until the end.There is also some political angle to this movie. They talk briefly about the atrocities committed by American troops in Iraq and about the gun debate. And they kill Russian Mafia again. Russians used to bring communism to US, now they bring corruption. This must be painful as the indigenous traditional corruption is not valued anymore. These are non-issues for most of those living outside of US, but they add context to the movie, without taking sides.

jennlforbes I don't understand the rating of this movie. The so called underwear scene insinuated sex and it was a chick with a thong along with some of the language and rape story other content was inappropriate for my 13 year old to watch hear etc. I encourage those that create the ratings to consider trying to preserve the innocence of our kids a little longer. This isn't the only movie I'm surprised at. Other than that good movie.