Why so much cheese?
This movie would be a full point or two higher in my mind if it wasn't for all the Reacher-aggrandizing commentary. Especially with those closing lines "There's a man...."
You'd feel cocky too if you were full of myself.
They made it intentionally over-the-top. That was one of the many reasons this movie really worked.
shareActually, no. Jack Reacher is supposed to be 6'5" and a mountain of a man. That works. When you have a midget like Cruise acting like a big man, it is cheesy.
shareGood point. The mIniature Scientology hero Tom Cruise, with a chest like a ten-year-old girl, always makes me laugh when he starts wasting full-sized men.
shareI'm no fan of Tom Cruise's - in many of his earlier films I got so tired of his smarmy "My dad was really important but he's dead so now I live in his shadow and I'm really talented but nothing ever goes my way" attitude.
I'm also seriously annoyed at the shortwashing of the role. STOP APART-HEIGHT!
Having said that, I have to give him credit - I think in terms of his *acting* he did an excellent job conveying the idea that Reacher is someone who doesn't expect to be messed with.
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Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.
I think in terms of his *acting* he did an excellent job conveying the idea that Reacher is someone who doesn't expect to be messed with.
Ok, I don't get that. Someone like Dwayne Johnson wouldn't expect to be messed with. Chris Hemsworth. Jason Statham. Hugh Jackman. Terry Crews.
Why would a short guy like Cruise put out the aura of someone to not be messed with? It is EXACTLY why the went after him at the bar.
Even if I didn't know Reacher was supposed to be a mountain of a man, I wouldn't look at Cruise as someone to not eff with. share
If you watch the movie fixated on the idea that Tom Cruise is short, then sure you're not going to get it. It's just like if you watch Deadpool thinking "Ryan Reynolds is wearing makeup, his mask is CGI, and so is Colussus" then you're not going to enjoy the movie.
The idea of a movie is to *enable* suspension of disbelief. Good movies allow you to forget, if you are willing to let them carry you.
Jack Reacher filmed carefully to obscure Cruise's height (as most of his movies do). So if you can let go of your hate for two hours then yeah - Cruise's acting can convey Reacher's aura of danger. Otherwise, it doesn't matter.
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Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.
If you watch the movie fixated on the idea that Tom Cruise is short, then sure you're not going to get it
If Scarlett Johansson or Selma Hayek are in a movie and wear a bikini, you are going to notice they've got a huge rack. You can't help it. It isn't being fixated on it - it is noticing the obvious.
Jack Reacher filmed carefully to obscure Cruise's height
If it did, we wouldn't have noticed.
Cruise's acting can convey Reacher's aura of danger.
Cruise doesn't act. He is just "Tom Cruise." He might play "Tom Cruise" a little different in one movie than he does in another, but he's still "Tom Cruise." It is like how John Wayne played "John Wayne." Maybe in a movie or two he was a bit different, but he was still "John Wayne."
You liked the movie - good for you. But, it was just another "Tom Cruise" movie with him talking slow and low as to make people think he's a bad-azz. share
Jack Reacher is supposed to be 6'5" and a mountain of a man. That works. When you have a midget like Cruise acting like a big man, it is cheesy.
Yeah, but.
For the 600 billion people around the world who haven't read the books (including me)....Cruise is just fine in the role.
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If by fine, you mean a joke....
I didn't even know the books before this movie, and I like the MI movies for the most part. But, I always consider those movies to be more about the tech and such than the fighting skills.
This, however....Tom Cruise is NOT a physically intimidating man and he tried to act like it. And, he did the role as "Tom Cruise" - talking low and slow and not even at the person he's talking to.
This is nothing other than a popcorn Tom Cruise movie and no better than a "Dwayne Johnson" action movie.
Agreed. A lot of those lines would have sounded dumb, especially coming from Dolph Lundgren or one of those other giant actors that the angry book fans are saying would do better in the role simply because they fit the description. Cruise can sell all the lines in this movie, cheesy or not.
shareNo, he really couldn't. I fast forwarded the movie, especially when he started talking. Gave up watching JR:NGB because he sounded even sappier.
Fighting a religious war is like fighting over whose imaginary friend is better.
Well, Never Go Back was vastly inferior anyway. That was miles below the first movie for fans and haters alike.
"We're not too old for this sh*t!" -Riggs and Murtaugh, 'Lethal Weapon 4' (1998)
The only thing that makes the first better is that it's simpler, less bombastic and it has beautiful scenic shots. As far as the story, the dialogues and the acting are concerned - they're the same.
Fighting a religious war is like fighting over whose imaginary friend is better.