By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
Full Disclosure: My son, Don Granger, produced “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.”
When novelist Lee Child’s stoic hero, ex-Military Police Major Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), learns that Army Maj. Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who heads his old investigative unit, has been arrested for espionage, causing the death of two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, he knows she’s innocent.
But trying to prove that is another matter. When he appeals to a Judge Advocate in Washington D.C., Reacher discovers a paternity claim against him, revealing that he may have a delinquent teenage daughter, Samantha (Danika Yarosh).
Basically a lone wolf, a laconic, hitchhiking vigilante who lives off-the-grid, Reacher must work with Susan Turner, whom he breaks out of a high-tech military prison, and rebellious Samantha to unravel a nefarious government conspiracy, involving a sneering contractor (Patrick Heusinger) and smarmy General Harkness (Robert Knepper).
Reacher’s search for a mysterious munitions supplier called Parasource takes them to New Orleans, where there’s a climactic rooftop chase, high above a Halloween parade in the French Quarter.
Adrenaline-propelled Cruise is renowned for doing his own stunts – and he doesn’t disappoint, particularly when he uses a salt shaker to punch through a car window.
Adapted by Richard Wenk, Marshall Herskovitz and director Edward Zwick from the 18th of Child’s “Jack Reacher” books, this crime thriller introduces two kick-ass women. Formidable Maj. Susan Turner proves she can fight in fierce, hand-to-hand combat alongside muscular Reacher, while resourceful Samantha turns out to be a quick learner.
Like Cruise, sinewy Cobie Smulders did her own stunts, catapulting her alongside Cruise’s previous cohorts Rebecca Ferguson (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”) and Emily Blunt (“Edge of Tomorrow”).
FYI: In the first “Jack Reacher” (2012), author Lee Child was a police officer; this time, he’s a TSA agent, scanning Reacher’s ID. “A theme is developing,” he notes. “I’m always in uniform, and I’m always somewhat suspicious of what’s going on with Cruise.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is a gritty, suspenseful 7, filled with intense action.
British filmmaker Andrea Arnold found cinematic inspiration for “American Honey” in a group of young American drifters, those tattered, tattooed, often defiant, yet seemingly aimless teenagers that lurk around places like Walmart.
One of them is abused, 18-year-old Star (Sasha Lane) who deposits her two younger half-siblings in the care of their disaffected mother before blasting out of Muskogee, Oklahoma, with a group of hard-partying rowdies who drift around in a white van, hustling questionable magazine subscriptions.
As charismatic Jake (Shia LaBeouf) explains, “We don’t only sell magazines. We explore America.”
He travels separately in a convertible with “mean girl” Krystal (Riley Keough, Elvis Presley’s granddaughter), who manages the eclectic, almost-feral crew: Corey (McCaul Lombardi), a surfer-dude who whips out his penis for kicks, and “Star Wars”-obsessed Pagan (Arielle Holmes).
In perhaps the most strange, yet memorable scene, Star courts danger, taking off with three wealthy, middle-aged Texans, wearing white Stetsons, in their fancy car to rake in some quick cash.
Like her Oscar-winning short “Wasp” (2003) and “Fish Tank” (2009), writer/director Andrea Arnold works closely with cinematographer Robbie Ryan to create a Diane Arbus-like, cinema-verite atmosphere, displaying a somewhat disconcerting fixation on bugs.
For two hours and 42-minutes, Arnold focuses on these disaffected misfits, traveling through the Midwestern heartland, taking the title from a song by Lady Antebellum. Newcomer Sasha Lane exudes sexuality, while Shia LaBeouf personifies the sleazy, hotheaded con artist.
On the Granger Gauge, “American Honey” is a subtly scrappy 6, a rambling, often repetitive road picture depicting a slice of Americana.
Admittedly, screenwriter Bill Dubuque’s original concept for “The Accountant” is potentially intriguing: an enigmatic mathematical savant becomes an underworld bookkeeper/assassin.
When we first meet Christian Wolff, he’s a troubled youngster, working on a jigsaw puzzle. Rather than cater to his autism/Asperger’s diagnosis, his sadistic, domineering military father (Robert Treveiler) forces him to confront it, training him in martial arts combat and survival skills, bizarrely shifting his developmental disorder from a liability into an asset.
As a result, now-adult Wolff (Ben Affleck) launders money for various criminal organizations, deftly disguising himself as a mild-mannered CPA with a nondescript office in rural Illinois strip mall. Socially awkward, he finds solace in routine and ritual.
Ostensibly dwelling in a suburban tract house, Wolff keeps his valuables – original Renoir & Jackson Pollock paintings, along with cash and weapons – in an old Airstream trailer, hidden in storage locker.
But soon-to-retire U.S. Treasury Agent Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) is determined to unmask the mysterious accountant, enlisting the help of Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), a savvy financial Analyst whose dogged determination is propelled by a need to hide her own felonious past.
Their paths cross when Wolff’s hired to balance the books by robotics CEO Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow) after his company’s clerk Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) discovers a discrepancy involving millions of dollars – which makes Wolff a target for brawny Braxton (Jon Bernthal), a hired killer.
Unfortunately, as the cryptic, character-driven saga unfolds, via numerous flashbacks, it becomes increasingly complicated. Director Gavin O’Connor and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey seemingly disregard several pretentious subplot distractions to chronicle the violent carnage.
On the Granger Gauge, “The Accountant” is a fragmented 5. It doesn’t add up.
( Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
