‘Jack Reacher’ delivers action, humor:Level of violence high for PG-13 rating

In “Jack Reacher,” Tom Cruise aptly brings to life the title character, a former military policeman turned criminal investigator.

The movie, written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie of “Usual Suspects” fame, is an adaptation of British author Lee Child’s book “One Shot,” published in 2005 as the ninth book in the Reacher series.

The film opens with a sniper firing six shots in downtown Pittsburgh, killing five innocent bystanders. When all the physical evidence leads to James Barr (Joseph Sikora) the case appears to be closed. While he gives no explanation, Barr asks the police to find Jack Reacher.

Instead, Reacher, a West Point graduate who has become a drifter since being discharged from the U.S. Army, shows up at the police’s doorstep and demands to see Barr. Reacher knows Barr from the Gulf War, when Barr, a trained sniper, murdered four men. However, because of a legal technicality, Barr was never charged, and Reacher warned him that if he ever killed again, he would track him down.

While the case against Barr seems airtight, Reacher and Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike from “Pride & Prejudice” and “Die Another Day”) turn up facts that cast doubt on Barr’s guilt, and sets up a showdown with a mysterious and creepy character dubbed The Zec, played by acclaimed director Werner Herzog.

The film is being marketed as an action film, and while the opening scene with the sniper and a car chase scene featuring a classic Chevrolet Chevelle SS deliver on this promise, the movie is more of a “whodunit?” film than a pure action movie.

What the film does deliver is humor, both in the characters’ dialogue as well as the acting. There are several slapstick moments including a bar scene where Reacher dispatches several foes. Another humorous scene takes place in a bathroom, proving how difficult it is to swing a baseball bat indoors.

The latter half of the movie featured the introduction of Robert Duvall, playing a former Marine who runs a shooting range outside of Pittsburgh. Duvall doesn’t have a huge part, but shines onscreen and adds a bit of comedy, as well as playing a central role in the film’s climactic scene.

Overall, the movie was fun and showed that even at 50 years old, Cruise still has what it takes to pull off the role of action star.

One word of caution to parents who have teenagers: Although the film has a PG-13 rating, it is filled with several extremely violent scenes, including one where a character is shot in the head onscreen, and another where a character is killed by stomping on his head. The movie features very little foul language and no sex scenes, so the PG-13 rating is likely within the accepted standards. However, the level of violence was more than expected and is something that should be noted prior to viewing.

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