Tom Cruise works as tough guy 'Jack Reacher'
The Lee Child pulp thriller 鈥淥ne Shot鈥� is the occasion for a possible franchise in 鈥淛ack Reacher,鈥� starring Tom Cruise as the eponymous tough guy who drifts into crime scenes out of nowhere and clears up the mess. In Child鈥檚 Reacher books, the character is a burly hulk, but Cruise is perfectly fine. Who says all tough guys have to look like the Terminator?
Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (he wrote 鈥淭he Usual Suspects鈥�) has a good feel for hard-boiled theatrics, and the plot 鈥� which has to do with a sniper shooting and the clearing of an innocent man 鈥� is well-engineered. Werner Herzog, better known as one of the finest living directors, plays a bad guy with Teutonic relish. If he doesn鈥檛 watch it, he鈥檒l have a whole other career for himself playing dead-eyed villains. Grade: B (Rated PG-13 for violence, language and some drug material.)
