Movie review: 'Jack Reacher'

And so what if Tom Cruise needs an elevator to reach the stature of the book version of Jack Reacher, who is described as a 6-foot-5-inch giant with blond hair and icy blue eyes in Lee Child's novels. The tabloid target, who produced the movie (so he gets quite a bit a say about who plays what character), definitively reaffirms his status as a top-notch movie star in this probable franchise starter.

Cruise, 50, keeps his trademark megawatt smile largely under wraps as the title character, an Army brat who became a military cop but had enough authority issues to opt out of service, albeit after his share of serving in war zones. But he didn't enter the civilian world in the usual fashion: Reacher doesn't carry a driver's license or any kind of ID, sticks to riding the bus instead of owning a car, doesn't have a house, cell phone or credit card, shops only at thrift stores and drifts around the country, occasionally tapping his military pension. You don't find Jack Reacher, and if he finds you, you might not wish he had because he only cares about what's right, not what's legal.

Reacher turns up in Pittsburgh after ex-Army sniper James Barr (Joseph Sikora) is accused of randomly assassinating five innocent people along the Riverwalk outside PNC Park. In light of the recent tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the tense scenes of the shootings are tough to watch, but the poor timing is hardly the movie's fault.

Detective Emerson (David Oyelowo) seems to have built an airtight case against Barr, and District Attorney Rodin (personal favorite Richard Jenkins) looks to have another slam dunk on his hands. But writer-director Christopher McQuarrie reveals early on that a different shooter committed the murders, and the puzzle becomes who is the mystery man (Jai Courtney), why did he do it and how and why did he so skillfully frame Barr.