In Pittsburgh, Detective Emerson (Oyelowo) and DA Rodin (Jenkins) are sure they've got their man when all clues in a multiple murder lead them to a loner gun nut (Sikora). Then man of mystery Jack Reacher (Cruise) arrives to shake up the case, offering to help defence lawyer Helen (Pike) prove her client's innocence. Reacher is ex-Army, off-the-grid and dismissive of the rules, so of course he quickly solves the case. But this puts him and Helen in danger from a vicious Russian (Herzog) and his henchman (Courtney).

McQuarrie even writes this kind of nonsensical spy action with style and intelligence. So it's consistently engaging, even if there's not much beyond the Bourne-style questions of identity and morality. Indeed, Jack has dropped out of society because he can no longer stomach the grey-scale relativism; he'd much rather dispense his own brand of rough justice and vanish without a trace. He doesn't even have a change of clothes, let alone a car, weapon or mobile phone.

Cruise knows exactly what to do here: stand as tall as possible while flexing that rock-hard jawline and putting on his best hard-as-nails glare. If that doesn't work, quick fight moves will do. In other words, it's not so easy to separate Jack from Cruise's rogue Mission: Impossible agent, although this film is darker and leaner. But it's also just as sexless. We only know he's straight because of some tepid flirting with the always terrific Pike.

As he bounces off co-stars and lets them steal the scenes, Cruise's on-screen generosity makes every scene enjoyable. Duvall has the most fun in this sense, although Oyelowo holds his own as the hardline cop, and Herzog injects some mad genius. It's a bit annoying that the film is little more than a ripping little thriller with some cool characters in it. But then it never tries to be anything else, which is rather refreshing.

themes, language, violence

8.Dec.12