Jack Reacher

A nanny – Chrissy – who stayed back for a week more because one of the most important person in the world – the six year old she takes care of – wanted her to stay back for her seventh birthday.

A middle aged cleaner at a hyper market –Vida – who is struggling to make ends meet but wants her son to watch a basketball game as a birthday present and was on her way to the stadium to buy tickets.

A stoic owner of a construction company – Oline – who hates her business but takes over the reins of a dying enterprise when her husband kicks the bucket – deep in debt.

A husband – Darren – who leaves home in the morning after a fight with his wife but apparently wanted to make it up to her and bought flowers on the way to work (funnily).

A woman – Nancy – who is about to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary and has just picked up an expensive watch as a present for her husband and is walking down the pier without any care in the world.

What is common to all of the above? James Barr. A twenty something Iraq return sniper. Who has probably lost his bonkers and one fine morning decides to drive down to a desolate building facing the pier, pay for his parking and take all 5 of them out over a couple of minutes tops.

In the bargain, he leaves enough evidence at the scene of the crime that points towards him. And in a matter of 16 hours gets caught by the cops. When asked to confess, he simply writes on a piece of paper – CALL JACK REACHER (Tom Cruise).

Based on a book titled – One Shot – by Lee Child, Jack Reacher is the story of the protagonist of the same name who is an army investigator. He sees something amiss where everyone else sees an open and shut case. He doesn’t care much for the law but only about what is right and wrong. And goes to great lengths to protect the right. Much like a super hero but only human.

Written for the screen by Christopher McQuarrie (Known more for writing – Usual Suspects / Valkyrie), JR is definitely not McQuarrie’s best to date. He builds up the suspense extremely well for certain and leaves you waiting for the story to move to the next angle. The first few minutes have no dialogues and yet a lot spoken – very well done. But somehow, it doesn’t come upto the level of excitement that a Valkyrie or Usual Suspects generates.

A tough act to follow for certain but it could have been – with some right casting. Rosamund Pike seems over anxious to prove a point and looks very unconvincing throughout the movie. Tom Cruise is surprisingly composed but average – which is the best he can get to. And the support cast doesn’t contribute too much either.

In short, well written, reasonably directed, good story line but falls short primarily due to performances. Despite that, definitely worth a watch. 7 on 10. Make it a part of your weekend.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1158194201/