I guess it had been a while since I had been to the cinema and this film looked pretty mindless so I decided that I would spend my Friday night basically watching Tom Cruise run around beating people up (which is what he seems to do best, not that he is actually one of those fisticuffs type of characters, though he is in this one). Actually, come to think of it this movie sort of reminded me of that Liam Neeson 'I will find you and I will kill you' movie (I know the name but I can't quite think of it right now). Anyway, as I mentioned it is basically a fisticuffs action movie with Cruise running around being some sort of ex-military cop trying to bust open some military conspiracy and saving the day. Actually, it is based on a book so I suspected that it was going to be heavier on the mystery than the action.
So, as I mentioned, Cruise is this ex-military drifter that goes around doing the military's dirty work, though not actually being asked to do it, but rather cleaning up the mess that the military doesn't really have time to clean up. However when he arrives in Washington to take his successor out to dinner he discovers that she has been arrested on a charge of espionage, and being the type of guy that he is decides to investigate, despite the fact that has been forbidden by her to do such a thing. In fact he is being your typical Hollywood ex-military guy – insubordinate and definitely not a team player, but being able to get things done, and actually rising up through the ranks at the same time – in a way I suspect that this may not actually happen in the military.
Another theme that seemed to come out of this film is the nature of the drifter – that is something that is actually a reality in today's world, and in fact in anytime where the military is demobilised – they don't actually fit into a peaceful society. Okay, it is clear that Reacher was once the commanding officer of the Military Police but for some reason he retired (maybe that is in the first movie, which I am inclined to watch after posting this), but he simply cannot keep the military out of his blood, nor can he settle down. He is like the classic Amercian lone cowboy who comes into town, cleans it up, and then rides off into the sunset, not being able to form any substantial relationship (even though some characters try to form a relationship with him).
The other interesting this is that even though a part of the movie suggests that he has a daughter, a part of me is always thinking that this is something that really couldn't happen to him – Reacher just doesn't seem to be the type of person who could really get that close to a woman. In fact we see this in the movie where there he is building a relationship with another officer only to have that torn apart when it comes out that neither of them can really submit to each other – the man is always playing the role of the man, and the tom boy simply cannot let the man play the man without being slighted by the implied suggestion is that she is a woman and there are some things that women cannot do. In the end what Reacher really is about, being all the action and the fisticuffs, is the loneliness of the returned veteran.
However one thing that has left me curious – do female soldiers really wear khaki bras? I guess I'm going to have to Google that one.
So, as I mentioned, Cruise is this ex-military drifter that goes around doing the military's dirty work, though not actually being asked to do it, but rather cleaning up the mess that the military doesn't really have time to clean up. However when he arrives in Washington to take his successor out to dinner he discovers that she has been arrested on a charge of espionage, and being the type of guy that he is decides to investigate, despite the fact that has been forbidden by her to do such a thing. In fact he is being your typical Hollywood ex-military guy – insubordinate and definitely not a team player, but being able to get things done, and actually rising up through the ranks at the same time – in a way I suspect that this may not actually happen in the military.
Another theme that seemed to come out of this film is the nature of the drifter – that is something that is actually a reality in today's world, and in fact in anytime where the military is demobilised – they don't actually fit into a peaceful society. Okay, it is clear that Reacher was once the commanding officer of the Military Police but for some reason he retired (maybe that is in the first movie, which I am inclined to watch after posting this), but he simply cannot keep the military out of his blood, nor can he settle down. He is like the classic Amercian lone cowboy who comes into town, cleans it up, and then rides off into the sunset, not being able to form any substantial relationship (even though some characters try to form a relationship with him).
The other interesting this is that even though a part of the movie suggests that he has a daughter, a part of me is always thinking that this is something that really couldn't happen to him – Reacher just doesn't seem to be the type of person who could really get that close to a woman. In fact we see this in the movie where there he is building a relationship with another officer only to have that torn apart when it comes out that neither of them can really submit to each other – the man is always playing the role of the man, and the tom boy simply cannot let the man play the man without being slighted by the implied suggestion is that she is a woman and there are some things that women cannot do. In the end what Reacher really is about, being all the action and the fisticuffs, is the loneliness of the returned veteran.
However one thing that has left me curious – do female soldiers really wear khaki bras? I guess I'm going to have to Google that one.