Jack Reacher movie casting

Standing 195 centimetres tall, Jack Reacher is the ex-military cop who drifts from town to town dishing out his own brand of justice by bear-hugging villains to death.

A clever trick of perspective is used whereby Cruiser’s co-stars stand in the distance so he towers over them playing Jack Reacher

Is Tom Cruise the right man for the role? The obvious choice is Liam Neeson. He is tall. But Jack Reacher is such a ridiculous character I think Cruiser may be one of the only actors in Hollywood capable of bringing any credibility to the role, or at least playing it with a straight face. With Neeson it would just be a less believable Taken, even with his military acting experience and almost correct height - just two cm off, according to the internet.  

Jack Reacher is like video game character: He is improbably stealthy for such a massive guy, he is great at hand to hand combat and long range sniping and everything in between.  He wears the same clothes every day and regains energy by eating and sleeping in random places. He also plays devil’s advocate with himself and does all his own exposition.

But he isn’t a game, yet. He is the protagonist of Lee Child’s best-selling series of books,  and now the title character of the motion picture adaption of One Shot; the ninth novel in the series.

Lee Child: ‘Tom Clancy for chavs’? 

Jack Reacher the movie is sure to appeal to its target audience: People who enjoy pointing out the differences between films and the books they are based on. And upon its release this Boxing Day Jack Reacher will be all their Christmases come at once. Ten inches shy of the eponymous character’s literary height; this shortcoming seems as great an oversight as Harry Potter not wearing glasses, or Bella cracking a smile.   

But did you know that Morgan Freeman’s character from Shawshank Redemption, wily old contrabander Red, was a ginger haired Irishman in the book? If that casting decision were made today there would be outrage! Essentially, if you don’t think Tom Cruise is the right man for the role of Jack then you are a racist.   

And speaking of Shawshank Tim Robbins is 6.5ft; and no one can seriously think he has the charisma to carry a movie of this kind? Very few actors do.

God, I hope cruiser bear hugs someone to death

I really enjoyed One Shot the book, it was pretty trashy; but I do like to see a baddie getting their just desserts. It was definitely a page-turner, and I am pretty optimistic about the film adaptation where I won’t actually even have to turn said pages.

Casting score: 5.7/6.5

You only get one shot, so make it count. You might never get this moment again...