If you have not read the Lee Child books, this probably won’t mean much. If you have, Tom Cruise has signed on to play Jack Reacher in a movie adaptation of One Shot.
Copied from wp, for those that have no idea who Jack Reacher is.
“Reacher is a giant, standing at 6’ 5” tall (1.96m) with a 50-inch chest, and weighing between 210 and 250 pounds (100–115 kg). He has ice-blue eyes and dirty blond hair."
That’s almost a direct description of Cruise himself, so this casting makes perfect sense. How can this not be the Single Best Idea Hollywood Has Ever Had?
For what it’s worth, Lee Child said he loved the casting choice because Cruise conveys Reacher’s sense of competence, intensity, and power despite his stature.
It’s interesting to see the relatively lower amount of makeup used in these versions of dwarves compared to what they did in the earlier films with Gimli. Makes sense in a lot of ways, but a lot of these look like the same idea as the hobbits, mainly close to normal proportions but smaller compared to humans. Not all the actors cast as dwarves are fitting the stocky/thick bodytype that we imagine dwarves to have.
Reminds me of the reviewer’s line about The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965): “Michelangelo was apparently both a dwarf and a homosexual. He is played by Charlton Heston.”
Dammit, I love the Reacher books but won’t watch anything with Cruise or Travolta in it out of hatred for scientology. The casting is pretty crap, Reacher is unreadable and Cruise will be doing his intense-eyes thing through the whole movie. Reacher is about cool competence and Cruise only does brooding idiot savant. Do not like.
What they need is to go back in time and get Ed Harris bulked up a bit, he has the right demeanor.
I keep hoping Cruise’s career will die ever since I read (and confirmed) that in his contracts he stipulates that none of the crew (grips, carpenters, P.A.s, set designers, special effects people, stuntmen, etc.) talk to him or even make eye contact with him. What a supreme douchebag. The Scientology, his puny size, the way he treats his wives, all that stuff just piles on top. Haven’t seen a Cruise move since Collateral (or The Last Samurai, I forget which was last).
No, it was his cocky, bold, arrogant personality which Cruise conveyed perfectly (not a stretch, I’m sure).
When someone mentions him I get disgusted and say how much I can’t stand him but then I remember I own Legend, Interview with The Vampire, Minority Report, Collateral, Magnolia and The Last Samurai. And thought he was very good in Tropic Thunder. He’s a good actor, nevermind that he comes off as a douche. Of course, I don’t know him personally so that may not be fair either.
I make no excuses about hating him despite his being a good actor. Still a terrible casting choice. I guess Hollywood has mined all the easily adaptable bestsellers to death and now is dipping into the good stuff. And ruining it (I’m looking at you, Pirates 4.)
Never heard of this character or series of books, but this
Reacher’s demeanor is stoic, and he does not talk much. He has a propensity for saying “that’s for damn sure”. Reacher frequently does not answer when people make statements or ask questions, nodding or shrugging preferring the other party to fill the silence. A recurring line in the novels is “Reacher said nothing”.
