I say this as anyone who is a fan of Lee Child will know that the character of Jack Reacher is a former US Army Military Police Major. So far its no great stretch to imagine Cruise playing a character such as this as he has already played a fighter pilot, a Vietnam veteran, a secret agent, and a hit man as well as many more similar roles. So it takes no great stretch in seeing him portraying a former military man.

My problem is that physically at a listed five feet seven inches tall (The Internet Movie Database and other sources) Cruise is nearly a foot shorter than the character of Reacher who is a hulking six feet five inches with a fifty-inch chest and weighing in at around 250 pounds (nearly eighteen stone). The character is also described as having icy blue eyes and dirty blond hair. Sorry, but there are no similarities with Cruise.

Reacher is a drifter who wanders aimlessly around the United States collecting his army pension and usually finding trouble and helping people in need. Thanks to his military experience and toughness he has good instincts and is almost like a one man ‘A-Team.’ I have read about half a dozen of the novels and enjoyed all of them. The most recent one ‘Worth Dying For’ has been reviewed by me and is in my ‘Books’ section of this website.

When I have read the books I have never once pictured a Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt type as Reacher. He is rugged, tough and grizzled and admits that he is no oil painting in the novels with his customary dry and self-deprecating humour.

Child has endorsed the casting choice of Cruise as Reacher but I find it surprising. I am not denying Cruise’s talent as an actor and he has certainly moved on from being the golden ‘poster boy’ of the 1980s to an acclaimed actor. Apart from his appearance on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ and a few misguided comments he has not put a foot wrong in his long career. But I am afraid I just cannot picture him as Reacher.

Lifts in his shoes would not be enough, not even stilts! Even if he beefed up he would not be able to capture the hulking giant that is Reacher.

If I were casting the part I would think of one of the following more suitable actors: Hugh Jackman, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (okay not blonde but he is hulking and an action star), Jason Momoa (recently seen on ‘Game of Thrones’ and the next ‘Conan The Barbarian’), Thomas Jane (‘The Punisher’) and Nathan Fillion (‘Firefly’, ‘Serenity’ and ‘Castle’). They are all six feet plus and fit the bill far better than Cruise and I am sure given a bit of time I could come up with many more better examples. The whole thing has left me scratching my head.

Paramount Pictures recently employed Academy Award nominated screenwriter Josh Olson to adapt ‘One Shot’ (the ninth book in the series). Christopher McQuarrie the Oscar winning screenwriter for ‘The Usual Suspects’ was then brought in to re-write the draft. So at least the screenplay has a decent pedigree.

Child is himself currently working on the next James Bond novel scheduled for release in 2012, that franchises’ 60th anniversary for the novels and 50th anniversary for the films.

I mention this because there was a similar outcry and backlash when it was announced that Daniel Craig was to become the sixth actor to portray Bond in the movies. There was even an Internet campaign to boycott ‘Casino Royale’ and many of the tabloids criticised his appointment. In the event all the naysayers were proved wrong and the casting of Craig as the iconic fictional character was vindicated with ‘Casino Royale’ becoming the highest grossing Bond film on record and Craig’s portrayal receiving much critical acclaim.

Similarly there were a lot of heads being shaken when it was learned that ‘Mister Mom’ and ‘Beetlejuice’ star Michael Keaton was cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman for the Tim Burton 1989 version of the caped crusader. Again people could not picture him as the masked vigilante but Keaton proved the doubters wrong by putting in an excellent performance as the troubled almost schizophrenic Wayne and the tough battle - scarred vigilante Batman.

So, there is precedent for seemingly bad casting choices developing into great performances and films. It is much better sometimes to have low expectations for a project and be pleasantly surprised than be disappointed by something that looked great on paper.

I am not happy with the casting for ‘One Shot’ but I hope like the critics of Craig and Keaton as Bond and Batman, that I am also proved wrong. I say this, as it will be a terrible missed opportunity if poor casting and going for a ‘name star’ rather than a better fit scuppers a series of ‘Jack Reacher’ films. We shall have to wait until 2013 the mooted release date of ‘One Shot’ to see who is right!