In his recently published memoir entitled “Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood,” Zwick reminisces on his time in Hollywood making films like “Glory,” “Legends of the Fall” and “Blood Diamond,” as well as television shows like “thirtysomething.” When it comes to discussing the disappointment surrounding “Never Go Back,” Zwick is the first to fall on his sword. In his own words (via Variety):
“‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,’ which Tom Cruise and I made in 2016, fizzled at the box office. I blame myself (and my willing accomplice, Don Granger) for thinking the audience might enjoy a mash-up of ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘Paper Moon,’ when in fact they just wanted more red meat.”
Indeed, the “Paper Moon” comparison in the context of “Jack Reacher” is jarring just on the face of it, let alone seeing it in action in the movie itself. Where Peter Bogdanovich’s 1973 film about a con man taking a young girl under his wing (played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal) has its edges, it’s by no means a gritty action film. Still, in this writer’s opinion, the dynamic between Cruise’s Reacher and the girl who is assumed to be his daughter, Samantha (Danika Yarosh), is a charming one, and the faults of “Never Go Back” lie more with the fact that the movie feels like a television pilot when compared to McQuarrie’s blisteringly cinematic vision. There’s not much that can be done about Zwick’s directorial approach to the film, but perhaps the “Paper Moon” aspect could be appraised better now than back in 2016; after all, we’re currently inundated with many such “Lone Wolf and Cub” dynamics in action media at the moment, with it turning up in series and films like “The Mandalorian,” “65,” “The Last of Us,” “The Creator,” and more.
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