Have you seen the cases where the innocent is considered guilty till the end when they prove their innocence or the ones where an innocent is considered guilty based on the evidence present at the crime’s location? This scenario is perfectly depicted by the film titled Jack Reacher, released on December 21, 2012.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the action-thriller movie tells the story of a mass shooting of five people with an ex-military officer as the prime suspect of the shooting who asks the help of an ex-army man who goes by the name Jack Reacher to prove his innocence. Produced by Don Granger and Tom Cruise, the film took inspiration from a novel written by Lee Child titled One Shot.
Caleb Deschanel did the cinematography for Jack Reacher, and it was distributed by Paramount Pictures. Jack Reacher did well at the box office with an investment of $60 M and an earning of $218.3 M.
Skydance Productions and TC Productions undertook the filming of Jack Reacher, and it stars Tom Cruise playing the role of Jack Reacher, the protagonist of the film, and an ex-army investigator, Rosamund Pike playing the role of Helen Rodin, a defense attorney, Richard Jenkins playing the role of District attorney, Werner Herzog playing the role of Zek Chelovek, the antagonist of the film, David Oyelowo playing the role of a Pittsburg police officer, Joseph Sikora playing the role of James Barr, an ex-military officer, and Jai Courtney playing the role of Charlie as the lead cast.
The portrayal of a person feeling remorse for killing innocent people is done perfectly by Joseph Sikora. Jack Reacher is power-packed with action, and as usual, Tom Cruise did not disappoint his fans. The crowd went crazy for Tom Cruise’s action sequences in Jack Reacher.
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Jack Reacher Ending Explained:
Jack Reacher begins with a mysterious man arriving in a van into a parking lot across from the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. The mysterious man kills five innocent people, including 3 women, a man, and a child, by shooting them with a rifle on the North Shore Trail of the river. Detective Calvin and his team discover a shell casing and the quarter used to pay for the van’s parking in the parking lot.
The coin discovered by the Detective carried the fingerprints of the suspect, who turned out to be an ex-army snipper of the U.S., James Barr. The police raid James’ house only to discover an unconscious Barr alongside the riffle and van. Alex Rodin, the district attorney, interrogates Barr and offers him the choice between either spending 45 years in prison in exchange for a confession or a guaranteed death sentence.
Barr doesn’t choose either of the options and asks the attorney to get Jack, a drifter, and an ex-U.S. Army investigator. Jack arrives at Pittsburg to investigate Barr’s case after he watches him on the news. Jack’s request to have a look at the gathered pieces of evidence is denied by Emerson and Alex. Meanwhile, after getting in a tussle with fellow inmates, Barr is in a coma at a hospital.
Jack plans a meeting with Helen, Barr’s defense attorney and Rodin’s daughter. Jack is informed by Helen that he can have a look at the evidence if he agrees to be her investigator. Jack angrily informs Helen that he has no interest in proving Barr’s innocence as Barr had gone on a killing spree during his duty in Iraq. Barr was never punished for his crimes as unbeknownst to Jack, his military contractor victims emerged from a weekend of assaulting numerous women.
The U.S. Army wanted to forget the mess. Thus, they let Barr leave respectfully with no consequences for his actions. That was the day Jack vowed that if Barr ever tried anything similar, Jack would be the one to finish him. Jack finds inconsistencies after he arrives at the crime scene as a sniper with proper training would have taken the shot from Fort Duquesne Bridge.
Meanwhile, a fight in the bar ensues, thus making Jack realize that someone is trying to strong-arm him into giving up the investigation. After comparing Helen and his finding, Jack realizes that Archer, the owner of a local construction company, was the real target of the snipper. As Jack comes closer to solving the case, he gets accused of the murder of a woman who got paid by the real mastermind to instigate the brawl which took place in the bar.
Was Barr The Real Shooter?
Jack follows his instincts which leads him to a shooting range in Ohio which is owned by Martin Cash, an ex-sergeant. The real criminals work for Zek, a ruthless construction firm owner and an ex-prisoner from the Soviets. Zek’s perpetrators kidnap Helen with Detective Emerson’s help and hold her hostage at a quarry.
Jack arrives at the quarry and kills the henchmen and Calvin with the help of Cash. Following this, Jack confronts Zek, who taunts him about having no evidence against him, as everyone who could have testified against Zec was killed by him. Hearing no remorse in Zek’s voice and the confidence he had in not getting convicted made Jack pull the trigger and shoot him dead.
Barr is willing to take responsibility for the shooting and receive the punishment for his crimes. Helen reassures Barr that he will walk out of court free of charge. Barr is this willing to accept his punishment because he knows Reacher is someone who doesn’t give a damm about the law as he would do anything for the people to receive justice.
The film ends with Reacher walking toward a terrified woman who is being abused by a man. This woman turns out to be the wife of the man abusing her. Thus, the film’s ending reinforces Jack’s beliefs about giving justice to the victims of a crime.
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