The first half adhered fairly closely to the book, which was great. Unfortunately, it then fell victim to the "oh, let's just change a few things and make it better" syndrome which, given the American mindset, usually means it's worse. About episode 5 it begins to go downhill.
They left out two of the most poignant parts of the book, the reason why Blind Blake was important to the story and the revelation that the Reacher boys' mother was in the resistance during the second world war and killed someone who would have betrayed her (at age 13 if I remember rightly). Those two episodes, esp Blind Blake, considerably deepened the story, the plot line, and the character development. And there was definitely room to include it.
There was no real reason to kill off Kliner and add in the Venezuelan gangsters and make them and the psycho son of Kliner the main killer. There really was plenty of time to leave the book as it was and just make a screenplay from the book itself. There is a reason why Lee Child sold millions of copies of the Reacher series and why few have heard of the screenwriters of this series.
The actor was fine in the role in terms of size and appearance, which Tom Cruise was definitely not. The initial episodes, he was fine, but begin to lag as time went on. He did not have the requisite intensity of Cruise, something Reacher in the book has. I don't put this down to his acting since he did fine in terms of intensity in the initial episodes but rather to a combination of the direction and the worsening script half way through.
It could have been much better but failed, as all too many do, from regrettably American tendencies common in both the film and television industry (shallowness, mental deficiency, and an unfortunately misplaced belief in their own capacities as storytellers . . . And it seems an erroneous belief that American audiences are not very bright).
I wish it had been better, the books, and we, the viewers, deserved it.
They left out two of the most poignant parts of the book, the reason why Blind Blake was important to the story and the revelation that the Reacher boys' mother was in the resistance during the second world war and killed someone who would have betrayed her (at age 13 if I remember rightly). Those two episodes, esp Blind Blake, considerably deepened the story, the plot line, and the character development. And there was definitely room to include it.
There was no real reason to kill off Kliner and add in the Venezuelan gangsters and make them and the psycho son of Kliner the main killer. There really was plenty of time to leave the book as it was and just make a screenplay from the book itself. There is a reason why Lee Child sold millions of copies of the Reacher series and why few have heard of the screenwriters of this series.
The actor was fine in the role in terms of size and appearance, which Tom Cruise was definitely not. The initial episodes, he was fine, but begin to lag as time went on. He did not have the requisite intensity of Cruise, something Reacher in the book has. I don't put this down to his acting since he did fine in terms of intensity in the initial episodes but rather to a combination of the direction and the worsening script half way through.
It could have been much better but failed, as all too many do, from regrettably American tendencies common in both the film and television industry (shallowness, mental deficiency, and an unfortunately misplaced belief in their own capacities as storytellers . . . And it seems an erroneous belief that American audiences are not very bright).
I wish it had been better, the books, and we, the viewers, deserved it.