It had an enveloping mystery plot, strong location shooting (it was shot in Pittsburgh, and it never looks like it was made in Culver City or Toronto), and a cruel sense of humor. It's because of 'McQ' that 2012's (barely) franchise-launching Jack Reacher was a gem.

The presence of a guiding intelligence like McQuarrie howls into the fast-and-furious winds that writing matters, even in action flicks.

Key to all those movies was Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote and directed Reacher and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and script-doctored the other two. And the greatest runner in cinema history has been on an admirable run, what with the latter two Missions: Impossible, Jack Reacher, and Edge of Tomorrow all in the last five years, each a standout specimen of its genre. The same unblinking intensity that now makes him impossible to accept playing ordinary, emotionally stable human beings makes him perfect for movies that require him to scale Arabian skyscrapers and cling to the sides of airplanes. Cruise's mid-career pivot from thrice-Oscar-nominated all-rounder to full-time action star may have been motivated by PR problems and an increasing reliance on international box office, but that doesn't mean he isn't The Best There Is at What He Does.

For the starring role, there was only one name on his list. But producer Tom Cruise was the guy who, after attempts by others, got the Reacher movie franchise going. Dolph Lundgren might've been perfect for the part, or maybe Anita Ekberg.

There are 21 novels in British author Lee Child's ongoing Jack Reacher series and they habitually take care to describe their hero as a blond-haired, blue-eyed hulk of an itinerant ex-Army cop, standing 6'5' with a 50-inch chest. Tom Cruise plays Jack Reacher (from left), Judd Lormand plays Local Deputy and Jason Douglas plays Sheriff in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.Ĭhiabella James/Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions

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