Reacher S3: Good Book, but OK series

It was said books usually adapt badly to screen. If you read the book you may not like the movie or TV series based on it. In this context lets discuss Reacher Season 3.

As a reader, I have been almost always disappointed when I see its adaptation into a TV Series or a movie.

There are many challenges making book into TV.

First, the format is distinctly limited in run-time so many of the backstories and side-tracks that immerse you into the story are often lost. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies suffer from these problems.

Second, there are quirks of the medium. Many books, like Reacher series, often have an internal monologue that is difficult in the show-don’t-tell system. It takes a special director to bring it to life. The way Shawshank Redemption uses Red’s monologue is remarkable. ( Though Shawshank movie is better than the book!)

Third, there is always a dissonance between our imagination and what we see on screen. Stephen King, in his book On Writing, said authors should leave as much to the imagination of the reader as she can allow. That way we make the books personal in a manner that is difficult to depict on a screen. For me Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies outdid my imagination, they truly blew my mind.

Finally, we have preconceived notions about actors and that does not fit well with their roles. Rare are actors who fit two different characters and still own them.

Conversely there are actors who are born to play certain roles and they fit the role perfectly. They embody the very qualities that their books evoke. I would say Jeremy Brett (Sherlock Holmes), David Suchet (Hercule Poirot) and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy fit this description very well. Alan Ritchson fits the Jack Reacher personality very well. Tom Cruise does not.

What “good” result looks like?

When a book is made into a movie, it is clear that there will be some changes. The real test is how close is the book in spirit to the book itself. The movie makers including screenplay, director, editors etc. should understand the central emotional core and motivations of the characters in the book. Then you have to get the rest of the details right - the locations, the casting, the acting, etc. When everything comes together, you get a product that goes closest to the book and creates a wow factor.

Here are some of the TV series / movies that I liked despite having read the books first.

• Sherlock Holmes featuring Jeremy Brett

• Hercule Poirot featuring David Suchet

• Pride and Prejudice featuring Colin Firth

• First three Harry Potter movies

• Lord of the Rings movies

• Shawshank Redemption score here despite changing the main character Red into a black Morgan Freeman.

• Absolute Power with Clint Eastwood

• Disclosure featuring Demi Moore (Micheal Douglas was a bad casting though)

• Bourne Identity featuring Matt Damon (despite substantial differences between book and script)

• Money Ball

• The Big Short was very difficult to make into a movie. So kudos to the script writers.

• The Count of Monte Cristo featuring Jim Cavizel

• Jack Reacher Season 1 featuring Alan Ritchson.

Why Reacher Season 3 is only OK.

Alan Ritchson is the correct choice to play Jack Reacher. Unlike Tom Cruise, he embodies every aspect of Reachers personality depicted in the Lee Child novels. This particular season fails to wow because of shortcomings.

For one, the use of the missing informer was so shallow that by episode 4 we were all for Reacher locating and killing the informer himself just to put the audience out of our misery.

The tension that had to be created between Reachers sense of duty to kill the Quinn and sense of duty to protect someone at the behest of attractive DEA agent did not materialize.

The DEA agent Duffy appears so incompetent that I wondered if this was director’s attempt to create comedy in this serious drama. The book definitely gives an impression of a competent but tired DEA team intent on doing right by their informer. In their attempts, limited by off-the-books operations and limited resources, they do their best but mistakes happen.

Agent Duffy has no chemistry with Reacher and their physical relations are a turn-off rather than two people intent on doing the right thing under adverse circumstances. She comes across as a whiner unlike in the book.

The good part is that this is a lot better than Season 2 which was an OK novel to start with and did not feel like a Reacher series.

So if you are a Reacher fan, do watch it, but do not expect much. I rather watch Season 1 again.

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Before I go- the curious case of The English Patient

When it comes to books made into movies, I do not know what to say about The English Patient. The movie is not full adaptation of the book. It focuses on a part of it. But the way movie has a slightly different lens on the situation than the book. It does not change the details. The book and movie are two quite different and wonderful in their own right. It is quite difficult for me to explain. I would say you can read the book and watch the movie as two different things and enjoy them both.

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