Straight Shootin’ with Chad Cruise
I like Tom Cruise as an actor. I always have. I can’t name too many movies of his that I didn’t like. It’s no secret that he is a man of small stature. It’s not that noticeable in most of my movies as I’m sure he stands on a box or something but when they cast him as the title character in Jack Reacher, that’s when I start to have a problem.
The film was based on a series of books by British author Jim Grant (under the pen name Lee Child). The main character being Jack Reacher, a former Major in the US Army Military Police Corps who pretty much roams around like Kwai Chang Caine in Kung Fu solving crimes and beating up people. Now normally this role would be just fine for Tom Cruise but Reacher is a man who is described as being 6’5” tall with a 50-inch chest, and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds. That is roughly the size of former Giants Defensive End Michael Strahan and instead of casting someone with that kind of imposing size they cast someone closer to Kelly Ripa. In sports they always say, “You can’t teach size.” I guess the same thing is true in Hollywood. No matter how low the cameraman gets to shoot the scene, you just can’t make a man into a mountain.
