I am a Jack Reacher fan. I’ve just finished the 9th book in this long-running series and it happens to be the one on which they based the Jack Reacher movie. I didn’t hate the movie like many did and I thought the book was good. So how do the 2007 book and the 2012 movie compare? Let’s take a look.
The Story/Plot The story is sort of the same, a mass murderer who was easy to catch but proclaimed his innocence is facing a sure conviction. Enter Jack Reacher, ex-military police, who comes to prove the murderer’s guilt only to change his mind. Except for a few second-tier characters essentially missing from the movie and a switcheroo at the end, the stories are close. Unfortunately, those secondary characters helped make the book better. Thumbs Up- Book
The Visual This category is usually, at best, a tie. I mean the movie is almost always better since that’s what its purpose it, but in this case it’s not so easy. Like many things in the movie, the sets were…underwhelming? This is not a story based on a location (other than it being quintessential midwest) but it is based on action and they could have done so much more. Since I listened to the audio of the book I was able to better visualize the scene (Sometimes when I’m reading a fast paced thriller I don’t take the time. Is that wrong?) and it was superior to what came across on-screen. It can be different, but a movie should be able to win this one. It didn’t. And I’m not even talking about Tom Cruise trying to portray a 6’5″, 220-250 lbs., 3XLT coat wearing menace. I’ll get to that next. Thumbs Up- Book
Characters vs. Actors Ok, let’s start with the obvious. 
The Ending The endings were a little different, not dramatic enough hate either one, but enough to notice. This is when the extra characters in the book made the end make more sense. And the hostage used to lure Reacher in to the final shoot out was different and so much less melodramatic when Lee Child wrote it. The movie felt expected, like I’d seen it on-screen before, so it wasn’t bad, just boring. Thumbs Up- Book
And the winner is…The Book!!
Now it’s your turn to vote!
Other book vs. movie polls you can vote on: (We Have Always Lived in the Castle) (Good Morning, Midnight/ The Midnight Sky) (Before I Go To Sleep) (The Little Prince) (Charlie St. Cloud) (Far From the Madding Crowd) (The Girl on the Train) (Tuck Everlasting) (Northanger Abbey) (Me Before You) (And Then There Were None) (Still Alice) (The Blind Side) (The Fault in Our Stars) (The Hound of the Baskervilles) (Gone Girl) (Jack Reacher) (Ender’s Game) (Carrie, the original) (Under the Tuscan Sun) (The Secret Life of Bees) (The Shining, the original)
Stacy's Books 
Even though I did not read the or see the movie, I enjoyed reading your comparisons.
I have trouble stomaching Tom Cruise in any movie these days.
I know lots of people dislike him now, but I don’t have a problem with him. I actually think he’s a good actor.
I enjoy your feature of book vs movie– good idea! I have only read the first two books but I say yes, book must be better. How could they even envision Cruise as Jack Reacher?? Just because he is currently a bankable action flick actor doesn’t make him the right choice. Also I don’t care for Cruise’s personality IRL so he is just a turn-off altogether.
Thanks for this feature on your blog, lots of fun 🙂
Yes, Tom IRL is easy to dismiss, but I do think he’s a good actor. That being said, He was no Jack Reacher!
I too am reading the Reacher series (61 Hours at the moment) and wondered why they cast Cruise in the lead. I think he was producer. I was able to enjoy the movie as fully as the book but only for two reasons. 1. I separated what I was expecting from the book and just enjoy the move and 2. I was able to do this because It had been a while since I read the book.
I liked your comparison!
I agree that if you separate the two you can enjoy the movie better, but the movie had problems for me. It wasn’t Cruise that made it flat, but the reworked script, I think.
I love reading book/movie comparisons, so I loved this post even though I haven’t read any of the books in this series or seen the movie. I checked the series out and I’m pretty sure I’d like the books, but since I have to read them in order, it’d take me forever to go through them. I’m not a Cruise fan, so I’ll probably skip the movie too!
Lots of non Cruise fans visiting today 🙂
Well you know how I feel about the whole thing, so I won’t go off on my tangent again. It is a point of principle for me, I will not see it. I THINK Cruise not only produced the movie, but bankrolled some of it, which is why he was grossly miscast. Honestly, the guy must have a serious ego if he thought he could do the book justice.
I would love to see you meet Cruise someday. He wouldn’t stand a chance! 🙂
I swore I’d never watch Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher and … then I did lol. It wasn’t a bad performance but he just wasn’t believable, he is NOT Jack Reacher and never will be and multiply that ten fold if you’re a fan of the series. But I don’t think much of Tom Cruise full stop lol
Haha, that happens to me with so many movies. I agree that Tom was okay, but he wasn’t Reacher. I’m not sure if they’ll try to make another movie from the series but I hope they recast if they do.
I enjoyed the movie. It won’t make my list of favorites, but I did enjoy it. I haven’t read the book the movie was based on so couldn’t take the survey. 🙂 I’m sure the book is better though. Isn’t it always?
The book is usually better, but in this case, it was bungled. The movie was ok on its own and I;m glad you liked it!
I still need to read the first one! But I liked the character of Jack Reacher. He’s a bad ass who isn’t afraid to get stuff done. But I think I was drawn to this movie more because my brother who passed away would have really loved this character and am sad he wasn’t here to see it.
I just finished reading the book and I gotta say the absence of Rosemary, Ann Yanni, and the whole Helen as a decoy plus the Cash+Reacher move was really disappointing. Also the whole plot twisty factor of Emerson being a bad guy was totally blown out of the water.
I almost didn’t watch this movie because of Tom Cruise’s lack of physical resemblance to Jack Reacher. However, many reviews saying it was a good movie otherwise convinced me to waste a couple hours of my life. Cruise should be named the King of Cheese. The scene where he walks out of the moving car which he is running away from the police in and then stands in a crowd who looks back and forth at the police cars and gives him a hat followed by him on the bus handing the hat back and both him and the hat owner smiling? CHEESE. I also felt much of the dialogue strayed from the book; it’s easy to know which parts without reading the book – it’s the cheesy parts. The direction of this movie is horrible – the silent scenes in the beginning where the evidence is found and leads police to Barr? And where the detective is outside the hotel and Reacher is in the car and scenes go back and forth between the two, the detective’s hand, the gearshift in the car? That was painful to watch because it was so CHEESY. And why is the attorney’s breasts about to explode out of her tight tank top???? The acting is also horrible by everyone. A buff actor playing Reacher couldn’t have saved this film. No way. I did enjoy seeing the Pittsburgh landmarks and scenery though.