Happy 50th birthday, Tom Cruise! It probably hasn’t been an ideal birthday week, but at least Paramount has made a move to change the conversation slightly by releasing the trailer for Cruise’s next film, Jack Reacher. Based on the series of books by Lee Child, Reacher stoked a fan outcry last year when the comparatively diminutive Cruise was cast as a character who’s a hulking six-foot-five on the page. How does the trailer deal with that disparity? By leaning into it: The showpiece action sequence pits Cruise against a taller adversary he has to look up to. Cruise also drives a whole lot (unlike the Reacher of the books, who spends most of his time walking) and dresses a little better than the Reacher you might be expecting to see. But he does kick! And stretch! He’s 50! 50 years old!
