Its hard to see bigger screw ups with the casting than Tom Cruise as the title character. Cruise neither looks like nor physically resembles Reacher from the books nor is he that talented in playing multi-faced characters. Can anyone honestly think of a worst A-list casting choice for any movie within the last few years?
GMG Man
In the books, Reacher being a big guy is symbolism for him being a bad-ass. A movie(or tv show) doesn't need such, because you can see it with your eyes instead of having to visualize it.
shareThe problem is, I can see it in my eyes that Cruise is a midget and not intimidating at all.
sharehe came across as much more in the film
shareMuch more of a midget or much more of not being intimidating?
Seriously. When you were watching the movie, other than maybe his clothes, did he seem any different than he does in the MI (or most any action) movies?
pretty similar. and it works. i like his movies. i know girls hate him and reacher book fans might too but his movies are good, they are suspenseful and fun to watch
sharepretty similar. and it works.
hes and action star. john was a western star. dont blame him, blame the people who casted him. they allowed it to happen.
shareNice job of avoidance. Blaming the casting director - especially when it was Cruise who wanted the role.
It doesn't change anything. Cruise has little acting range. He's done the action hero so much that any action role he takes seems like any other action role he's taken.
either way i liked it. good movie.
shareIt is not one of the worst miscasts of all time. What a stupid statement. In case no one knows for some unimaginable reason, it was Cruise and company who optioned the Reacher series and it was always going to be Cruise. No one "let" him, he wanted the role and he paid for the right to play it. Lee Child, by the way, likes him in the role and frankly, after some initial skepticism, so do I as a fan of the novels. He gives the role some gravitas that some big, tall actor couldn't come close to doing. Acting is about perception and Cruise pulls it off nicely. A real fan who is a friend of mine said at the beginning that they got a munchkin to play his favorite hero. After watching the film, he said he never even noticed the physical differences because Cruise was good and frankly they didn't really matter to the plot or story. I couldn't agree more and I look forward to REACHER 2.
Be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove
it was Cruise and company who optioned the Reacher series and it was always going to be Cruise.
tall actor couldn't come close to doing.
Acting is about perception and Cruise pulls it off nicely.
ya and at the time there was no one big time enough to cast that fit the stature i feel like. and cruise is usually a homerun and ya everything you said
shareIt seems like Jack Reacher is a more loose and nasty guy than the uptight tom. Bruce Willis could be a much better cast in my opinion
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Quoted from "61 Hours"
"He had been hospitalized in Beirut and then airlifted to Germany for convalescence. His medical summary was in the file. He was a healthy person. The wound had healed fast and completely. It had left what the army called a disfiguring scar, which implied a real mess. He was six feet five inches tall and at the time of the report from Germany had weighed two hundred and forty pounds. No internal weaknesses had been detected. His eyesight was rated excellent.
He had many formal qualifications. He was rated expert on all small arms. He had won an inter-service thousand-yard rifle competition with a record score. Anecdotally his fitness reports rated him well above average in the classroom, excellent in the field, fluently bilingual in English and French, passable in Spanish, outstanding on all man-portable weaponry, and beyond outstanding at hand-to-hand combat. Susan knew what that last rating meant. Like having a running chainsaw thrown at you.
A hard man, but intelligent.
His photograph was stapled to the inside cover of the file. It was a colour picture, a little faded by the intervening years. His hair was short and unruly. He had bright blue eyes, a little hooded. His gaze was direct and unflinching. He had two noticeable scars. One was at the corner of his left eye. The other was on his upper lip. His face looked like it had been chipped out of rock by a sculptor who had ability but not much time. All flat hard planes. He had a neck. Thick, for sure, but it was there. His shoulders were broad. His arms were long, and his hands were large.
His mouth was set in a wry smile that was halfway between patient and exasperated. Like he knew he had to get his picture taken, but like he had just gotten through telling the photographer the guy had three more seconds before his camera got rammed down his throat.
Jack-none-Reacher."
Cruise is just Cruise. He's a decent actor but he's just himself on screen. He rarely changes his acting style or voice or mannerisms. The idea he's Jack Reacher - that Cruise tried to change his acting or appearance to fit Lee Child's vision of the character - is laughable.
It's just Tom Cruise on screen doing his action 'thing'. Period.
Tom Cruise is not believable as Jack
shareCruise was alright. But it is laughable how fans of his seem to imply that no 6'5 actor could have pulled it off like he did, never mind did it better.
That scene at the auto store especially really fell flat for me. The "inside of an ambulance" line actually sounded comical coming from a little man.
The "inside of an ambulance" line actually sounded comical coming from a little man.
You are 100% right!
I think Cruise did fine. I'm not a big fan of his but I've never seen a bad performance from him. Pike on the other hand, she and she alone is the *beep* in the armor. She is terrible. Emote emote emote.
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