- Why is Jack Reacher the first film I've seen in which Werner Herzog plays the villain? He's a natural! Even something as absurdly grotesque as forced finger-eating sounds strangely plausible when he suggests it in his usual portentous monotone. The movie surrounding him could never have been as satisfying as Herzog is in it, but I am surprised to report that Christopher McQuarrie's Jack Reacher is not a terrible film. Its lead character is a pompous jerk played by Tom Cruise and...actually, at this point I'm suddenly starting to question whether this was an action film or a documentary. Regardless, it kindof works, which is more than I can say for most action films.
- The plot is launched with a shooting spree apparently carried out by a disturbed veteran named Barr (Joseph Sikora), who asks local law enforcement to "get Jack Reacher" just before landing in a coma. Both the investigating detective (David Oyelowo) and the DA (Richard Jenkins) assume Barr is guilty, but an attorney named Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike) agrees to defend him, mostly as a protest against capital punishment. In case this situation lacks the requisite personal drama, Helen is also the DA's daughter. You might imagine that the mysterious Jack Reacher (Cruise) is the only one really interested in Barr's innocence, but nope, he's convinced Barr is guilty, too.
- At this point, you might wonder why Barr even wanted to see Reacher, given the latter's opinion of him. This question becomes exponentially more intriguing when it is revealed that Reacher actually found Barr guilty of a different mass murder back when they were in the military together! Now Rodin and Reacher have to team up to figure out whether or not Barr is being framed, not that Reacher actually works "with" anybody. His entire persona is defined by an off-putting cocky aloofness that he would doubtless describe as the only real way to live. My favorite detail is how he constantly informs people that he doesn't need to write things down to remember them. It's the sort of thing only an abrasive high school overachiever would brag about, which is exactly why it works for both Cruise and Reacher. Yes, we're all very impressed, Jack.
- The best parts of Jack Reacher are the assassination scene itself, in which a sniper's scope pans across several potential targets, and some reverse stunt driving later in the film that represents a novel approach to storming the castle. Otherwise, the film feels like a weird intersection of 70's vigilante films like Dirty Harry and Death Wish and 70's paranoia films like Three Days of the Condor, with the last comparison helped greatly by Rosamund Pike's surely intentional channeling of Faye Dunaway. The result is a mixed bag. The film's political statements, mostly endorsing gun rights and the death penalty, are undeniably consistent with the Jack Reacher ideal, whether or not you think that is a good thing. If you ignore the political messaging and focus on the fun that Cruise, Pike, Herzog, and Robert Duvall (as a gun shop owner) are having, I believe it is possible to enjoy the film without necessarily becoming a paranoid misanthrope yourself.
- Based on the novel One Shot by Lee Child.
