New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

David Mumpower: Edwin touches upon the key to all of this. Parental Guidance became the de facto non-animated holiday movie this year in the same way that Fockers have behaved in the past. It seems like we have a surprise like this every couple of years. Does anybody remember The Family Man? It earned $75.6 million over the holidays in 2000 in the same manner. Billy Crystal doing his greatest hits of cranky comedy may not be appealing to most of us but it is a great compromise choice for a lot of folks.

Kim Hollis: Jack Reacher (no Ghost Protocol) earned another $9.2 million this weekend, giving it a running total of $64.7 million. What are your thoughts on the latest Tom Cruise action film?

Felix Quinonez: If you compare it to something like Ghost Protocol, of course it seems like a disappointment but after closer inspection I think we can agree that it's performing just fine. Its relatively modest budget ($60 million) means that the bar is set a lot lower. It should end its run with close to $90 million domestically, making it a modest hit. And once the overseas money is added in no one will be complaining.

Jay Barney: It shows that Tom Cruise is still a draw. The budget of $60 million has been surpassed, so the film will be making money from here on out. He had a bit of a rough patch with some of the movies he decided to star in a few years ago, but I think an important measure of a star's drawing power is how much money do their films bring in versus money spent. This one will be bringing in money from here on out and last year's Ghost Protocol was a great success. Cruise may not be what he once was, but he is still making quality films.

Bruce Hall: I have one thing to say to all the Jack Reacher fanboys out there who threatened suicide when Tom Cruise was first cast in this role.

You're welcome. Tonally, Jack Reacher is closer to The Last Action Hero than it is The Bourne Identity, which remains our generation's action benchmark. Many people find Tom Cruise distracting, but like it or not, he's one of the few movie stars who can still put butts in seats. To have cast the Dolph Lundgren type fans clamored for might have made the movie an out and out joke (no offense, Mr. Lundgren, sir).

Cruise's smallish frame and brassy tenor may not seem a fit for the character, but his presence was the difference between Jack Reacher being the modest success that it is, and the complete non-entity it could have been without him. Could other actors have played this character and been successful? Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy come to mind, but Tatum is too young a gun and come on, does this material really require Tom Hardy? Tom Cruise gets it done, just like he's been getting it done his whole career.

You're welcome.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5