Tom Cruise Knows Some Fans Aren’t Thrilled About Him Playing Jack Reacher In ‘One Shot’
Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation ofLee Child’s thriller novelOne Shotis moving forward withTom Cruisein the lead role of hulking ex-military cop Jack Reacher, who is drawn into a strange plot involving sniper shootings in a mid-size town.
To say that fans have been unenthusiastic about that casting choice is an understatement. A recent re-read of the novel gave me a good idea of how the character will be adapted to suit Cruise, and so I’m ready to see what McQuarrie is going to offer. But I’ve had many conversations with others who aren’t so sure. Cruise seems quite aware of that uncertainty, as he talks publicly about his role in the film.
Empirecaught up with the actor as he starts to promoteMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Cruise said ofOne Shot,
To recap, Lee Child told theBBCthis summer,
It’s completely impossible to literally transfer the page to the screen. Ironically, to capture the feel of a book on the screen, you have to change almost everything about it. People think we should have had an actor that looks more like Reacher is described in the books. First of all there aren’t any such actors, so it’s much more a question of which actor has the talent and screen presence to create what Reacher does on the screen, and that really comes down to finding the actor with the most talent.
Jumping forward in time to Cruise’s current comments, the actor moves forward from Child’s statement:
Lee told me that the reason he wrote him that size (6' 5") is because that was just one element to his character, and that opened the door to me playing him.
Here’s the synopsis:
Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, ex—military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter–a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right–and soon the slam-dunk case explodes. Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning–and then beat him shot for shot.
Even if you’re not thrilled aboutthe idea of Cruise in the lead, the rest of the cast is too good to ignore:Werner Herzogis the villain, the Zec, andMichael Raymond-James(Terriers) is one of his henchmen.Rosamund Pikeplays the defense attorney;Robert Duvallis Cash, an old Marine with a pivotal role;David Oyelowois a cop, likely the primary investigator Emerson;Richard Jenkinsis the determined DA Alex Rodin;Alexia Fastplays a young girl named Sandy who has a few important moments; andJai Courtneyplays a villainous henchman named Charlie. IMDBPro saysTammy Feliceis local TV reporter Anne Yanni, andJoseph Sikorais accused sniper James Barr.
