Friday, January 18, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW - Reacher

Faced with the prospect of another day of 34 degree heat and still without an airconditioner we opted for the movies again today.
School holidays means lots of kiddie movies and only one remaining film we though might entertain us:
Reacher
Now, I've read a couple of Lee Child's Reacher novels and found them entertaining without becoming a devotee and ploughing through them all.
I know Reacher is a he-man.
6 foot 5 inches tall
ball of muscle
super cool fellow.
I was a bit doubtful that Tom Cruise would fit the bill.

  
Verdict: I thought he did a good job.
I enjoyed the film.
His physical non-resemblance to the Jack Reacher of the books really didn't have any impact on the story for me ( and Tony had never heard of him at all )
and I came home thinking,
 "Well done Tom.
 Clever fellow to grab the role with all those other Reacher books out there waiting to be made into films."

But I've just been reading reviews on the Internet and I see that the film has been widely panned by critics and Reacher fans as well.

Oh well, Tony and  I liked it !

Cheers.

10 comments:

  1. That's very interesting Helsie. We have read most of the Reacher books and were aghast that Tom Cruise had been cast to play him, not our choice at all. As you say, there are plenty of films and money to be made.
    I heard Lee Child interviewed on the radio and he claimed the Reachers height and physique was just a "metaphor", but I have such a vivid picture of him in my mind, Tom Cruise just doesn't fit the bill, for me.
    I would probably be OK if I hadn't read the books.

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  2. Agree! Tom Cruise is the last one we would have chosen to be Jack Reacher. The books do give such a clear picture of him.

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  3. I've read a couple of the books too and just cant see Tom in the lead role for this...Despite your recommendation this will be a DVD movie for me ...

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  4. Very interesting to read your film review because I'm a HUGE fan of the Jack Reacher books. I was so dismayed when I heard Tom Cruise was cast in the role, not only because physically he just doesn't make the cut, he just doesn't do it for me as an actor. Oh well. I'm trying to decide if I can put that aside and see the movie anyway. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.
    Anne xx

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  5. I've not read these books. I need to give them a try, as I obviously missing out here! 34 degrees!!!!! Blimey! It's been down to minus 9 and thick snow for us this past week :-) Ros

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  6. I am also a stranger to the books, so I might reach (ha ha) for one next time I'm in the library.

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  7. I have to confess that I have never heard of this Reacher fellow. Glad you liked it.

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  8. I don't get out much to see movies. I hauled my son and his friends to the movies for years, but now that they're all grown up, do you think they'd offer to take me along when they all go? No. Whine whine. So I've been staying home in the evenings and watching shows on Hulu and Netflix. My current favorite is McLeod's Daughters, an Australian series. I love it. The actors seem like real people and their situations are not too far fetched. I've been trying for a week to figure out how you guys turn a simple word like "no" into something with 4 syllables.

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  9. Never heard of this guy 'Reacher' but your build up about him was so lucid, I laughed out loud when I read:

    'I was a bit doubtful that Tom Cruise would fit the bill'

    Actually I fell about in hysterics. Glorious understatement! I'm still chuckling now!

    I found your most excellent blog through a poem you posted very recently on Yorkshire Pudding's blog. He felt that the poem might be construed as trite by some. I just want to say that I cannot be included in that group. I thought it was marvellous and have printed it out to teach it to my kids. As I said in my comment on YP's blog, why can't you do some more poems like that with themes such as 'being polite', 'sharing', 'honety', 'helping others' etc. Then get the poems suitably illustrated and turn them into a children's book?

    I have a fourteen year old (too late for him perhaps), a four year old and have recently adopted a six year old orphan. I am tired of the trite, intellectually undemanding shit churned out by children's book publishers nowadays and would love a book of poetry for children by you. It teaches the kids the moral attributes they should aspire to, the beauty and versatility of the English language and provides the bonding experience of a parent spending time reading to his children.

    Surely on the Blogosphere you could find a decent artist and maybe even someone who knows a decent publisher?

    Poetry is beautiful but is a dying art. I thought your poem was wonderful.

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  10. Many thanks for your kind words Hippo but I'm afraid my little poem about Smiles was not written by me. It is one I used to teach my students in the good old days !!

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