American Made

How you'll feel about this movie depends a great deal on what you expect from it when you walk in the door.  If you're in the mood for a manic, high-energy, Tom Cruise-fueled fantasy that happens to touch here and there on the 1980s war on drugs, you'll have a fine time with American Made--as I did.  If, though, you want historical accuracy or smart people behaving intelligently or a moving exploration of the human experience, then you should turn around, cash in your ticket while you still can, and catch another film.

Cruise is in fine form in this one, returning to the crazed version of himself that is so much fun in so many movies.  The supporting cast members are uniformly good, and the story wings its way along a flight path that is just near enough to reality land that you might at times be tempted to believe in it--which is all you need for a fun couple of hours. 

You don't need any more data to decide if you'll enjoy this movie.  As I said, I did, but there are many good reasons you might not. 

I'm almost certainly going to be disappointed

by this film, but there's no way I'm going to miss it.



After all, who can resist Tom Cruise being used by a mummy--at least for much of the film?

Not I.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is fun but no more

As I've written earlier that I would, I had to catch this second film adaptation of the wonderful Jack Reacher novels from Lee Child.  I entered the theater vaguely aware of the bad reviews but fully prepared to love the movie.

I didn't.  I had fun and don't regret seeing it, but the film never fully clicked.

The individual parts generally worked.  The plot moved along quickly.  Tom Cruise handled the Reacher role reasonably well, speaking little and staying within character.  Cobie Smulders stole the show and should get more leading roles.  Danika Yarosh did well.

It just didn't quite come together the way I wanted it to.  I think the fault may have been the film's decision to make Reacher more human, less perfect, less effective.  Reacher isn't a conventional character.  He wins fights.  He kicks ass against overwhelming odds.  The movie should have let him be the character that Child writes.  Instead, they added vulnerabilities that did not, to my taste, help the movie.

Still, I had a fun time.  If you're looking for light action entertainment, check it out.

Yes, Tom Cruise is way shorter than Jack Reacher

in the books, but I don't care:  I am excited about this upcoming second Reacher film.



Of course, I am more jazzed about Night School, the new Reacher novel from Lee Child.  You can bet I'll have a copy as soon as it appears on November 7.

If you don't know the Reacher novels and like compulsively readable novels, check them out.

Don't blame me if you're late for work the day after you start one.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

is exactly what it should be:  big, action-packed, frequently dumb, Mission: Impossible-style fun.  It starts fast, stays fast, and does the nice turn of dispensing with the scene its trailers most over-used--Tom Cruise hanging onto the plane--in its first few minutes.

As always, Cruise dominates the action and the film itself, but Simon Pegg, whose role is larger than ever, helps balance the movie.  Rebecca Ferguson did a solid turn as the woman who might be with them or might be an enemy.  The rest of the usual cast all turned in good performances.

Films in this franchise are at their weakest when they slow the pace and examine the inner lives of its characters.  At those moments, the movies typically sag to nearly the breaking point.  Rogue Nation never enters that danger zone and instead just keeps on moving.  It's the right choice for this film.

I had a fine time watching it.

Of course, you can't think too hard about the plot or the stunts, but you know that's the case when you walk into the theater.  No problem.  Some of the lines, particularly a late-in-the-film Alec Baldwin monolog about Ethan Hunt (Cruise), are laughable, but mostly they speed by so quickly that you don't have time to feel the pain.

If you enjoy this kind of movie--and you know I do--go see Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.

I know Tom Cruise is supposed to be a jerk

and from what I've read, he probably is, but I don't care; I still want to see this next installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise.



If the trailer is any indication, the series has regained its sense of humor, which is a good thing.  Even when the movies were taking themselves entirely too seriously, however, I was enjoying them.  So, I very much look forward to this next one, Mission Impossible:  Rogue Nation.

Edge of Tomorrow

I understand the temptation to write off any Tom Cruise movie without seeing it, because from many reports he is a world-class ass-clown.  (I've never met him and have never bothered to look into him or his behavior, but plenty of folks I respect have issues with him.)  I also understand the temptation to write off Edge of Tomorrow after watching the trailer as just Groundhog Day with alien battles; to some degree, that is a reasonable summary of the film. 

Don't succumb to either temptation.  Go see Edge of Tomorrow.  It's worth your time. 

In many ways, it is a Tom Cruise film, and the plot does indeed revolve around the relive-the-day gimmick, but the movie is a great deal more.  Cruise starts out as a coward, and his smarmy desperation oozes from the screen in those early scenes.  He grows into the hero's role, but it takes time, and he portrays the growth credibly.  The gimmick is indeed central to the movie, but director Doug Liman handles it with skill, never boring us or abusing it.

Emily Blunt is a joy to watch, an exo-suit-powered warrior who snarls her way through her early scenes and who never lets up on Cruise.

I know I often have to explain my odd tastes in movies, but in this case, as I write this, RottenTomatoes has the critics rating at 90% and the audience's at 92%, so I'm not alone in my enjoyment. 

I don't want to go into spoilers, so I'll just wrap by saying that Edge of Tomorrow is exactly what a summer big-budget action film should be, and then some.  Check it out.

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher?

I'm a stone fan of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels.  They're reliably fun and often more, their pacing is relentless, and Child is a very entertaining writer.  The books frequently have little to do with reality, but that's okay; he sells the departures well enough.  Reacher himself is a huge presence, both as a fictional character among mystery fans and in stature:  six-foot-five and anywhere from 220 to 240 pounds of muscle. 

Every single Reacher fan I know thus said (at best) "Huh?" when the news broke that Tom Cruise would star in the Jack Reacher film due this Christmas.  After all, Reacher is nearly a foot taller and vastly larger than Cruise.

At cons, I've heard Child defend the casting on the grounds that Cruise has the presence to carry it off.

Though I will, of course, go see the movie, I've been convinced Child was wrong.

This trailer, though, gave me some hope that the movie could be good.  (Thanks to Steve for pointing me to it.) 



Some hope.  I'm not convinced, but I am more hopeful now than I was before.   

Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol

I wanted to love this movie. I'm a long-time fan of the Mission: Impossible movies and even the old TV series. I loved Brad Bird's work as director on Ratatouille and The Incredibles. I was in the mood for fast-paced action. I figured this one to be the one sure film of the holidays for me.

I did enjoy it, but I didn't love it.

Three factors stopped the movie from being all it could have been.

The first was Tom Cruise's performance. The charm and humor he used to great effect in Knight and Day never appeared here. Instead, he showed two looks: the quick smile, and the scowl. Both are fine, but eventually you want more from a performance.

The second was how little the film surprised us. From the first time each character appears, you know who the character will be and how he or she will act. The plot jets down a completely telegraphed plot line. I don't mind knowing the good guys will win, but it would be nice for at least some of the details of the victory to be surprises.

The final weakness came from some combination of the writers and Bird: Each scene ran a little too long, as if they always wanted to put just one more obstacle between the good guys and the next stage of the plot. I'm all for making things difficult, but in this movie I found myself repeatedly wanting to advance to the next key event.

Despite these issues, I did, as I noted, still enjoy the movie as the brainless thrill ride it is supposed to be. I might even watch it again one day, if only to see if my first impressions hold.

I just didn't love it.

Valkyrie

was better than most of its reviews, though ultimately and unavoidably somewhat unsatisfying, because we all know the assassination attempt on Hitler failed. Despite that handicap, however, the film did a better than decent job of building tension and even hope that the coup might succeed.

Kyle and I joined about a dozen other hardy souls who went to a Monday night late show to watch Tom Cruise in an eye patch, and no one was disappointed: Director Bryan Singer injured Cruise early and got us quickly to the patch. As it turns out, however, the missing right hand, two left-hand fingers, and eye patch were not the most distracting parts of his appearance. That honor went to his hair, which actually managed to help distract you from the fact that it was Tom Cruise.

I have to give Cruise credit for doing a passable job in the role. There were whole seconds where I wasn't completely aware it was Tom Cruise--which is rare in one of his films. The best performances, however, came from the large number of talented British actors, each and every one of which acted Cruise under the carpet. It was a pleasure to watch these characters come to life on screen and then, later, realize, wasn't that Eddie Izzard? Bill Nighy in a serious role? Kenneth Branaugh sure doesn't look healthy. And so on.

I can't recommend the film wholeheartedly, and I haven't yet seen any of the other holiday offerings vying for your theater dollars, but this one is worth a look if you don't mind already knowing how it's going to turn out.