Tom Cruise is Jack Reacher

[Ham Murabi]

I did a half-assed search and no one has started a thread about this. Most of you have no clue who Jack Reacher is, but a few do based on the results of the search.


And as a reader, let me offer the opinion you did NOT think of Tom Cruise when you imagined who might play Jack Reacher in a movie. But that is who has been cast.

I couldn't come up with a perfect Reacher, but Clint Eastwood 40 years ago and 30 pounds heavier might have been close.

Who would you pick?

 

[eyer]

First to mind is Crowe...

...but I'll have to keep pondering that for a while.

 

[Hallow_Ed]

loved him in risky business. i don't know. you pick somebody.

 

[Ham Murabi]

First to mind is Crowe...

...but I'll have to keep pondering that for a while.

Good choice, better choice than Cruise. Is Crowe tall enough?
Reacher is 6-5, 240. Or may 6-4.

 

[unregistered]

 

[Lorilei]

I did a half-assed search and no one has started a thread about this. Most of you have no clue who Jack Reacher is, but a few do based on the results of the search.


And as a reader, let me offer the opinion you did NOT think of Tom Cruise when you imagined who might play Jack Reacher in a movie. But that is who has been cast.

I couldn't come up with a perfect Reacher, but Clint Eastwood 40 years ago and 30 pounds heavier might have been close.

Who would you pick?

Anyone except Tom Cruise.

 

[Lorilei]

I certainly wouldn't pick the diminutive Cruise, who creates the same kind of problems for Hollywood that Alan Ladd used to. Nor would I have destroyed the image of Sherlock Holmes with that twit Johnny Depp.

Robert Downey, Jr.?

 

[unregistered]

 

[Lorilei]

Yes, I stand corrected. I had the names confused.

LOL. I wondered if I had missed a movie somewhere.

 

[KRCummings]

I certainly wouldn't pick the diminutive Cruise, who creates the same kind of problems for Hollywood that Alan Ladd used to. Nor would I have destroyed the image of Sherlock Holmes with that twit Robert Downey, Jr.

Your image of Holmes is simply from another actor whom I'm sure avid readers at the time probably argued about. Downey Jr. did just fine especially considering that he's playing a much younger Holmes.

 

[eyer]

Good choice, better choice than Cruise. Is Crowe tall enough?
Reacher is 6-5, 240. Or may 6-4.

Googled "How tall is Russell Crowe"...

...claims of 5'11" and 5'11 1/2" are found.

Seems he might come up a tad short...

...but, I'd still be interested in seeing what he'd do with that unique character.

 

[DaddyValin]

Tom Cruise is Not Jack Reacher. He has the wrong look; the wrong height and weight. Though according to an article I read, Lee Child is okay with it.

 

[unregistered]

 

[DaddyValin]

Your image of Holmes is simply from another actor whom I'm sure avid readers at the time probably argued about. Downey Jr. did just fine especially considering that he's playing a much younger Holmes.

Actually, he is too old to play the younger Holmes. Remember, in the earlier novels and stories, such as "A Study in Scarlet, " and "Sign on the Four," Holmes was in his 20s to early 30s.

 

[Ham Murabi]

Tom Cruise is Not Jack Reacher. He has the wrong look; the wrong height and weight. Though according to an article I read, Lee Child is okay with it.

To have someone with Cruise's star power play the part would be hard for an author to resist. And the fact they are finally making a Reacher movie after 10 or so books probably weighed on Child.
I'd much rather have a relative unknown land the part, someone really suitable for the role who could do the movies for 10-15 years.
But I'm not that much into who is in movies these days. If you're new to the thread, we're looking for an actor who is 6-5, 250 pounds and around 40.

 

[mikey2much]

I think me might pull it off

I think that if he works at it Tom Cruise can pull this off. He did a good job in Interview with the Vampire. I thought he would suck in that. He did suck but he did it very convincingly

 

[jomar]

Fuck no...Downey or Cruise doesn't work. Reacher is 6'5"...Cruise and Downey are maybe 5" 6".

Fuck a known star....like the first Alien, this movie needs unknowns.

Anybody else see the Reacher on the Lee Child site? Didn't fit my mental image.

Clint Eastwood back in the day...absolutely.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Reacher needs to be an unknown that can become ... Reacher. The way that Harrison Ford became Han Solo.

Cruise? fuck no.

Great Thread. I have been reading Reacher novels for a while and kept wondering why there were no movies!

 

[Ham Murabi]

Reacher needs to be an unknown that can become ... Reacher. The way that Harrison Ford became Han Solo.

Cruise? fuck no.

Great Thread. I have been reading Reacher novels for a while and kept wondering why there were no movies!

I was gonna bring up Harrison Ford as an example. From American Graffiti bit part to superstar might be the ticket here.
Cruise is a good actor, but part of Reacher's persona is his brute strength. Can anyone look at Cruise and his 180 pounds and buy that? You can tweak the role, but Reacher without brute strength is not Reacher.
BTW, the next Reacher novel is out next month.

 

[eyer]

"One Shot has already attracted criticism from fans of Child's Jack Reacher novels. Reacher, a former military policeman, is described in the books as being a hulking 6ft 5in, 250lb (17st 12lb) blond. Cruise is 5ft 7in, with brown hair.

"People think we should have had an actor that looks more like [how] Reacher is described in the books," admitted Child recently. "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."

Rosamund Pike to star with Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher film One Shot

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/18/rosamund-pike-tom-cruise-one-shot

 

[jomar]

"One Shot has already attracted criticism from fans of Child's Jack Reacher novels. Reacher, a former military policeman, is described in the books as being a hulking 6ft 5in, 250lb (17st 12lb) blond. Cruise is 5ft 7in, with brown hair.

"People think we should have had an actor that looks more like [how] Reacher is described in the books," admitted Child recently. "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."

Rosamund Pike to star with Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher film One Shot

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/18/rosamund-pike-tom-cruise-one-shot

That's just plain old bullshit. Reacher's size is emphasized in the books. Might be a good movie, but it won't be Reacher.

This is the start of a franchise...Cruise gonna do all of them?

 

[Powertone]

Robert Downey, Jr.?

the loud mouthed chain smoking talk show host ?











oh wait...that was Milton Downey , Jr .




carry on

 

[Ham Murabi]

How about the FBI guy in "The Town"?
Nah.

 

[justuandmekiddo]

Liam Neeson?.............Dennis Haysbert?

 

[eyer]

The commanding and imposing presence Reacher individually strikes the other characters in Child's work with seem essential to any film portrayal...

...the second person who came to mind after Crowe was The Rock (he's billed as 6'5"); I think I've seen maybe two of his films and one (was it the juvenile delinquent football team pic?) especially made me think he possess acting talent.

I Googled "6' 5" 245 pound blond actors" and Dolph Lundgren tops the list. ...

...the second listed is "MARIO STRONG:HOLLYWOOD BICEPS", so out of curiosity I clicked and was webbed to a site that exhibits muscle men and women who've at least attempted acting.

The Rock was there...

...so was Jason Statham:

http://www.mariostrong.com/NEW%20PAGE%20HB_clip_image004.jpg

...but he's not much taller/stouter than Cruise. His intensity, though, matches the loner Reacher is...

Then I found a guy whose picture seems more Reacheresque (if less blond):

http://www.mariostrong.com/NEW%20PAGE%20HB_clip_image015.jpg

John Cena is billed as 6'1", 240...

...but can he act?

If Childs is right and there really aren't any 6'5", 240 lb actors, then Cruise only has to shed his own self-image to reach down and properly portray a character who prefers drifting to limelight...