Showing @ Odeon, Edinburgh from Wed 26

Christopher McQuarrie / USA / 2012 / 130 min

Despite being an award-winning crime writer since his career began in 1985, Christopher McQuarrie’s production is the first of Lee Child’s novels to be adapted for screen, actually based on One Shot, the ninth literary incarnation of Child’s erstwhile antihero Jack Reacher. When an ex-serviceman believed to have committed of a killing spree asks for Reacher (Tom Cruise), he unearths himself from his elusive lifestyle to ensure the accused is guilty. The more he discovers the less he’s convinced of his old comrade’s guilt, beginning his own investigation.

There are attempts at layering this macho twaddle with meaningful content, Rosamund Pike’s beleaguered defence attorney grumbles about the unfairness of a legal system geared towards convictions or plea-bargains rather than defending the innocent. Unfortunately this theme is swallowed by the vacuous chasm of Jack Reacher’s contrived plot and clichéd dialogue. At times the action even takes on the guise of farce (the fight in the bath) as if parodying the high-octane thriller. Sadly not even a menacing cameo from Werner Herzog can rescue this stilted and tedious testosterone replacement therapy from the depths of monotony it wallows in. Films of this ilk are now as common as chicken pox and unless they’re treated with care and consideration (Sam Mendes’ sleek Skyfall) they become more bothersome and painful than the irritating childhood affliction.

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