The Cruise Control Jokes Are Just Beginning…New Jack Reacher Trailer

Who’s the star? The man or the car?  This trailer doesn’t tell. 

Here’s the thing about Tom Cruise. He always, always looks like Tom Cruise. You may like or dislike his look, and it may fit some roles very well while others not so well, but it never changes. And he always sounds like Tom Cruise. Nasal and—to my ears—whiny. The throaty sound of the muscle car only makes him sound weaker by comparison.

This is not the Jack Reacher of my imagination. And it’s not just the height or the hair.

But of course, that’s just my opinion.

Comments

  1. Thomas Pluck

    I agree. The only time Cruise seemed less Cruise was in Collateral, and he has none of the menace here. When you need the camera to be three inches off the ground to make you look imposing, there is a problem.
    And it’s not a little guy thing. Matt Damon as Bourne? Worked. Ryan Gosling in Drive? Worked.
    I can buy Cruise as a bad-ass, but he will never be physically imposing. He’s going for a Bruce Lee vibe here, the little dynamo ass-kicker, and it doesn’t work.
    If they keep a gun in his hand and don’t have him fight multiple attackers who should just rush him and brain him with a brick, the movie might work…

  2. Clare 2e

    Reacher of the books can say few words, because his size and bearing alone do the threatening. It’s not that smaller guys can’t play tough, or even do it without extra chatter. One of the truly scariest dudes I’ve ever known was short and quiet and capable of crazy, explosive violence. But it’s a different vibe when every conflict has to begin with first proving you’re an opponent not an easy target. If you’re huge, armed, and scary- looking though, there are some fights that just never start. Reacher often gets people to back down without argument, whereas I’m currently at least as unconvinced as the circling thugs that Screen-Reacher is a threat. (However, bonus points to the Foley operator for awesome bone-crunches.)

  3. Leslie Gilbert Elman

    Is part of the problem simply the overexposure of Tom Cruise? We know too much about him, we see him too often, and we can’t forget we’re watching HIM no matter what role he’s playing. Lawyer, pilot, rock star, Reacher…whatever…he’s still Tom Cruise. Besides the fact that he’s physically wrong for the role as everyone envisions it, there’s no mystery about him at all.

  4. Laura K. Curtis

    I do think the “no mystery” thing is a good point, Leslie. I hadn’t thought of that, but Reacher is quite the “still waters” type–he’s a mystery, and Cruise is not.

  5. Betty Breier

    Yes, I think the combination of being all wrong for the part physically and being too well known really is a problem here. My one hope is that the movie might get more people to read the books and when they find out more about Reacher they’ll shake their heads in wonder that Cruise thought he could do the character justice.

  6. thelma straw

    Thanks for your comments on Cruise as Reacher! Since I first heard of this horrible sin … I’ve been angry enough to start WW3 and be violent! And I am not a warmomger OR the least bit violent! If this movie comes near my neighborhood, I might throw things at the movie house – or go inside and hurl glass bombs at the screen!! Now, this is no more like me than the man in the moon – but I have loved Jack Reacher ALL these years and I think whoever did this casting is … well… my words are unprintable!

  7. Mary Saputo

    My question on the trailer is, where did he get the car? Reacher in the books walks everywhere. I’m at a loss, but that doesn’t convince me to see the movie to find out the answer. If anything, the trailer reinforces my opinion that Tom Cruise is all wrong for this part. And Thelma – I don’t think “casting” had anything to do with it. I think Tom BOUGHT the rights to the movie and hence, the right to play the part. When I saw the part of the trailer that shows him surrounded by all those guys, my first thought was – he’s so short! This is NOT Jack Reacher. I don’t care what Lee Child says.

  8. Laura K. Curtis

    Bitsy –

    I so agree about the car. Isn’t it part of Reacher’s character that he never owns anything? He takes buses, walks, etc? *sheesh*

Comments are closed.