Jack Reacher is WHO?! Well Done.

I'm one of those abnormal people who reads a lot of books. As such, I'm bound to have watched a few film adaptations throughout the years. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pride & Prejudice, Black Beauty, the Bourne trilogy (though I guess there's a fourth now, isn't there?), The Help, The Lovely Bones... you get the point. The list goes on and on. 

And while many of these adaptations have been enjoyable and a few have even become some of my favourite films (particularly childhood films), there is, inevitably, something that has been screwed up or butchered by the film makers. It might be a scene, the time line, leaving out an important moment, or something of the like. But rarely is something so integral as the main character  the problem. So, well done to the casting director of the new Jack Reacher film. You've really gone above and beyond to step outside the box. But please do tell me this --- What were you thinking?! Who in their right minds would cast TOM CRUISE as Jack Reacher?!

Now, I'm not the first person to complain about this, and I'm probably months behind so many others who have already expressed their displeasure with this casting choice, but I thought I'd add my two cents to the pile of change that should have buried the casting director alive by now. A quick search online will show you that you've really screwed this one up.

Let's think about it, really... Jack Reacher is meant to be, what? 6'5" and well over 200 pounds. Tom Cruise is 5'7" and by the looks of it, no where near 200 pounds. His age is roughly right, and if he'd lay off the hair products and celebrity facial treatments I imagine he frequently uses, I'm sure he'd look the correct age to. But age aside, there's nothing about Tom Cruise that even remotely screams "I am Jack Reacher, cast me!"

I've read Lee Child, I'm familiar with the character. I enjoy the books, but I will not watch the film. A mistake so glaring as casting an actor who is basically the exact opposite of the character (a character well established in more than a dozen books, I might add), is just bound to piss me off. I remember watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and being so annoyed by the blatant change in Harry's character in the opening scene that I wasn't able to enjoy the rest of the film. It still annoys me to this day. I also couldn't watch Janet Evanovich's One for the Money, from the Stephanie Plum series when it was turned into a film because (as much as I like her) Katherine Heigl was cast as the main character. Cruise as Reacher is far worse.

Don't get me wrong, I get it... I really do. It's Tom Cruise. If Tom Cruise wants to be in your film, you're not going to turn him down. But for the love of all that is good in the entertainment industry, you should have turned him down! Yes, he's a mega-star worth more money than most of us will ever see in our lives... actually, worth more than three generations of our families combine will probably seen in our lives. But there are so many solid actors that could have been cast in this film and weren't. So here are some you probably should have considered:

Kyle Secor (from various television shows);

Stellan Skarsgard (Thor and The Avengers);

Kevin Durand though he's a bit young (Lost and X-Men Origins: Wolverine);

Liev Schreiber (Salt and X-Men Origins: Wolverine);

John Corbett (Sex and the City);

Johnathon Frakes (StarTrek);

Adam Baldwin (Chuck);

Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ);

Vincent D'Onofrio (Law and Order: Criminal Intent)

And my personal favourite, who would have been (in my humble, irrelevant opinion) badass as Jack Reacher? Liam Neeson. 

Regardless, Tom Cruise is now Jack Reacher. And how did I find out? Twitter. I can only imagine the look of complete incredulity on my face when Twitter informed me of this travesty. Thanks Twitter.