Except that the character as written on the page - based on the ninth of Child's 17 Reacher novels - is tall and blond. It's a part that would seem tailor-made for Cruise. He pops up in the least expected places and fends off attackers by the dozen. Reacher is limited by a lack of originality and hampered by thematic clichés and generic action sequences. But the movie is a far cry from those well-made spy thrillers. Reacher is not all that different from the guy he plays in the Mission: Impossible movies.

Cruise is competent as the hard-hearted righter of wrongs, convincing as a guy who's fairly impervious to danger.

Pike brings intelligence and warmth to a rather lackluster role. The top-flight ensemble cast, which includes filmmaker Werner Herzog as a shadowy Russian mobster, is generally saddled with bland, one-dimensional parts. Helen hires Jack as an investigator and he begins breaking down the minutiae of the murders. Super-observant, Reacher catches details that others don't - such as the fact that the killer fired six shots. Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), the public defender representing Barr, tracks down the elusive Jack and realizes he can prove useful. Following his arrest, the alleged killer scribbled a cryptic note: 'Get Jack Reacher.' Jack is called in by former military sniper James Barr (Joseph Sikora), who is accused of murdering five people at random. In other words, he's a flesh-and-blood superhero.

Not reaching too far beyond the obvious, Jack Reacher, the mysterious stranger, travels on well-trod turf.Ī crime thriller based on Lee Child's novel One Shot, the eponymous Jack Reacher (** out of four rated PG-13 opening Friday nationwide) stars Tom Cruise as an enigmatic loner, a former military police officer and brave latter-day knight errant who heeds his own moral code above all laws.

Rated PG-13 running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes opens Friday nationwide.

Stars: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog.

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