I am an enormous fan of Reacher, the ongoing adaptation of the Lee Child book series that is delivering one of the best TV shows on Amazon Prime Video. Season 1 of the program tackled the first book in Child’s series, Killing Floor. But for Season 2, the writers shifted to book 11, Bad Luck and Trouble, which is introducing the members of Reacher’s Special Investigators as they embark on a mission of vengeance. It has been an interesting extension of Reacher Season 1, but the showrunners and creatives behind the show also are using tricks to sell an important part of Jack Reacher’s characterization – his massive physique.
I picked up on the visual tricks when Reacher (Alan Ritchson) shopped at a thrift shop in episode one of Season 2. A simple two shot that required Amy Keating (playing the cashier) to sit low behind the counter. And it allows the already stout Ritchson to tower above the lady as they have a conversation. It looks like this:
Lee Child famously writes Jack Reacher as a hulk of a man, a slab of beef who glides through the world like a shark on the hunt. He’s meant to be physically imposing, and the size differential is part of the reason why audiences didn’t fully embrace Tom Cruise in his two Jack Reacher movies. Casting Alan Ritchson helped to address some of that physicality when Reacher arrived on Amazon Prime Video, but everything about Reacher is bigger in Season 2. I wonder how differently the show would have approached things if The Rock got to play Reacher back in the day.
The visual trickery caught my eye once again in episode 3 of the current season, and now I know it’s a thing they are doing on purpose. Reacher enters a pawn shop looking for guns. And the episode’s director frames another shot to show our hero towering over his screen partner. It’s subtle, but it helps to sell Reacher’s girth. I can’t get enough of these shots!
Everything about the Reacher adaptation has convinced me that the material is in the right hands. Ritchson is the right casting choice to play Reacher, and it’s encouraging that they already are filming on Reacher Season 3, even if the hulking actor won’t tell me the book on which they are relying. I have faith in the team. They are off to a great start on Reacher Season 2, going to the right lengths to bring the story of Bad Luck and Trouble to life on the big screen. I know, it’s on our televisions. But when it comes to Alan Ritchson, the screen is big. Bigger than we’d ever imagined.
