The avalanche of bad reviews for Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher” has begun. The film maintained an 80 rating on rottentomatoes.com mostly from bloggers and junketeers. But now the big guns are coming in, and “Reacher” has slipped to 66%. It may go lower as a few more reviews trickle in. (The review in the NY Times is especially bad. Ouch!)
Third update: Down to 59%. Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post says: “A wildly ill-advised miscalculation.”
UPDATE Friday 12-21-12: it’s down to 63%. Second update: down to 61%.
“Reacher” is hobbled by circumstances beyond its control. It’s vigilante movie that begins with a sniper picking off five people including a nanny with a small child. In light of the tragedy in Connecticut, this will be a massive deterrent. Even gung ho young men may not want to see this right now.
I have not seen “Reacher” due to scheduling. I will try and see it this weekend. My colleague Leah Sydney blanched at the unfortunate connection to news events at her screening. It’s hard to evaluate this kind of film in light of current events.
No matter what anyone says, Tom Cruise did as little as possible to promote “Reacher” because of his personal problems. Even though the tabloid supermarket weeklies have him “reuniting” with Katie Holmes, this is fiction. Amusing, but fiction.
“Reacher” is a test for Cruise, who hasn’t had a real non “Mission Impossible” hit in years. “Knight and Day” was a dud, and “Valkyrie” was a calamity. Cruise is trying to reinvent himself, but it’s unclear what his constituency is after seven years of tabloid fodder concerning Holmes and Scientology, couch jumping and the like.
The other test is for “Reacher” writer director Christopher McQuarrie, whom Crusie wants for “Mission Impossible 5.” McQuarrie told this site’s Paula Schwartz that he’s been chosen but can’t discuss it yet. It may be Paramount will wait and see how “Reacher” does before giving McQuarrie such a big project. Stay tuned…
