in other words
july6
2017
9
Inside Our Films: Jack Reacher (2012)
By Jim Bryson
Every once in a while I see
a movie that really sticks with me.
This is not to say that these movies
are particularly good examples of
great films but instead that they
have something about them
that really stays with you. Jack
Reacher (2012) is a particularly
good example of this.
There are a great many
things to praise about this film
but what I would like to point
out is the iconic opening scenes.
The film tells the story
of the title character who is a
former military police officer of
some distinction who arrives in
the story to settle an old score
after a tragic mass shooting.
As you could guess the
story is all about the character
of Jack Reacher, played by Tom
Cruise. This character is equal
parts hero, villian, patriot, and
drifter. Now that his official
military career has ended he is
drifitng around the country, “en-
joying the freedom” that he spent
so much time fighting for.
The movie is based on
the books by British writer Lee
Childs (Jim Grant). Although I
have not read any of these books I
have understood that the situation
that is laid out in this film is very
much an everyday occurence for
our title character. Jack Reacher
knows what is right and is very
much willing to do what is necce-
sary to make things correct. In this
way he is very much a reflection
of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry
(1971) who was also willing to “do
what it takes.”
The things that stand out
about this film are the opening
sniper/mass shooting scene and
also the untethered willingness of
the main character to use violence
and his clever intelect to solve the
story’s pressing issues. Also the
film is marked by excellant per-
formances from both Jai Courtney
and Rosamund Pike, although the
performance of Alexia Fast leaves
quite a bit to be desired.
Creatures LLC
As an added bonus we see
an unusual screen appearance from
Werner Herzog, the acclaimed di-
rector. Personally, Herzog is one
of my favorite, all time great direc-
tors and found his role in this film
excting and satisfying.
While Cruise delivers a
solid performance and, as al-
ways, performs his owns stunts,
I found the supporting cast to
be the heart of this film. The
character of Jack Reacher is
the tip of a righteous spear and
doesn’t make the same personal
connection that the other char-
acters of this story do.
Jack Reacher (2012) is
very much worthy of watch-
ing and rewatching. You can
imagine my excitement when I
saw the sequel Jacker Reacher:
Never Go Back (2016) arrive in
the library. In all the ways that
Jack Reacher is good the se-
quel fails to match up. In every
viewing of this film I have been
struck with the notion that the
film makers had missed the rea-
sons that made the first film iconic
and instead were trying to make
a quick buck on the energy of the
first and is the same classic Hol-
lywood mistake that we have seen
over and over.
You can find Jack Reach-
er (2012) and its sequel, Jack
Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
and many other wonderful films at
your local Vernonia library.
Silas Hunter shows off one of the three large
mouth bass he caught at Vernonia Lake while
fishing with his grandpa, Michael Buesseler,
who was visiting from Whitefish, Montana.
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