Tom Cruise Plays a 6′ 5″ ex-Army Cop…
According to author Lee Child’s popular 16 book series, the main character, Jack Reacher, stands at 6 foot 5 inches, with a 50 inch chest, and weighs somewhere between 210 and 250 pounds. He’s a loner and a badass. An ex-Army cop, born with ice-blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. He also has amazing strength, with the ability to break a person’s neck with one blow. And who better to cast than… Tom Cruise?!? The newly single actor stars as the titular character in the first teaser trailer for the action/thriller Jack Reacher.
Child’s fans were outraged when they first discovered that Cruise had been cast as Jack Reacher; besides having blue eyes, Cruise fits none of the physical attributes that Child intended for the character, and his involvement was clearly work stitched up by the producers — Cast an ‘A-list’ actor and this is sure to be a smash at the box office! Oh, and we’ll release the trailer right on the heels of Katie and Tom’s divorce… great publicity! To be fair, they probably released the trailer because today is Tom Cruise’s birthday. He turns 50 today.
Child describes Reacher as a brute force, with physical attributes that define his attitude and behavior towards the world. Why not go with Chris Hemsworth or Gerard Butler? Hell, even Cruise realized he may have not been the best fit: “I’m obviously not 6-foot-5, like Jack Reacher…But Lee felt that I was the right guy to drive fast cars and kick the s–t out of people onscreen.” Source: Empire
‘Drive’ + ‘Mission: Impossible’?
Upon viewing the trailer, I had the odd feeling that I had seen this film before. The teaser trailer sales Jack Reacher as a cross between Ryan Gosling’s Drive and Mission: Impossible. There’s no telling how the general audience — those unfamiliar with the character — will take to the film after seeing the trailer. Would I spend my money to see something I’ve seen before? No. Back in 2010 it was revealed that Cruise did not take the role of Edwin, now Evelyn (Angelina Jolie), in Salt because the character was too similar to Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible. Smart move on Cruise’s part, but why take this role?
I’m willing to give Cruise the benefit of the doubt. He portrays his roles with such energy and vigor that it’s always a fun time. Plus, there’s not much to go on from just the teaser trailer alone. And with the talented, Oscar-winning, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie on board the film could prove pretty successful. I’m just ready to see Cruise in a different role. Check out the synopsis and trailer below and let us know your thoughts.
Jack Reacher swings into theaters December 21st, 2012. The film also stars Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, David Oyelowo and Jai Courtney, Werner Herzog, and James Martin Kelly.
‘Jack Reacher’ Movie Trailer
‘Jack Reacher’ Synopsis:
Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me.
And sure enough, ex–military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter—a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right—and soon the slam-dunk case explodes.
Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning—and then beat him shot for shot.
Loading ...