Search icon

Movies & TV

24th Aug 2023

Tom Cruise’s most underrated film is among the movies on TV tonight

Rory Cashin

Will Smith, Daniel Craig, Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Reynolds and Daniel Day Lewis are among the movies on TV tonight!

Your Thursday evening movie menu has arrived, and it is a good ‘un!

I, Robot – FilmFour – 6.50pm

Will Smith is a robophobe who is forced to team up with a rogue robot in order to solve the murder of his old friend. A decent action sci-fi thriller.

Quantum Of Solace – ITV4 – 8pm

We maintain that while this movie isn’t great on its own, if you watch it immediately after Casino Royale, it suddenly gets much better. Plus that opening car chase is magnificent.

In The Name of the Father – RTÉ2 – 9pm

Daniel Day Lewis and Pete Postlethwaite play son and father in this outstanding biographical crime drama, telling the story of two men who are wrongly imprisoned for an IRA bombing.

Anna – Virgin Media Two – 9pm

The director of some great action thrillers (Leon, The Fifth Element, Lucy) swings and misses with this all-star assassin thriller. Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren and Luke Evans fill out the impressive cast list.

Jack Reacher – FilmFour – 9pm

Our main pick for the night is Jack Reacher, which we reckon is the most underrated movie on Tom Cruise’s CV. It was the star’s first time working for director Christopher McQuarrie (who would go on to direct Mission Impossible’s Rogue Nation, Fallout and the two parts of Dead Reckonings), and is an adaptation of the hugely popular Lee Child novels.

Cruise plays the titular Jack Reacher, a former military police officer, who is tasked with solving the case of a group of apparently innocent, random people who were all victims to a mass sniper shooting. Featuring some great action scenes and a killer supporting cast including Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog, Richard Jenkins, Jai Courtney, Robert Duvall and David Oyelowo, this is 100% worth checking out… despite the weak 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

One Financial Times critic described the movie as ‘high-gloss tripe with noir pretensions’, but we are still recommending it. If you wanted to stream it in Ireland or the UK, you can find it on Paramount+ .

Jack Reacher

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher is our big pick of the night

Shadowlands – BBC Four – 9pm

Anthony Hopkins stars as famed author C.S. Lewis and Debra Winger stars as poet Joy Davidman in this much-loved romantic drama.

Lone Survivor – ITV4 – 10.10pm

A bleak, relentless action thriller, telling the true story of a group of Navy SEALs (headed by Mark Wahlberg) who get caught behind enemy lines in Afghanistan.

The Good Liar – BBC One – 11.10pm

Ian McKellan plays a ruthless con man, and Helen Mirren in his latest target in this twisty crime thriller.

Deadpool – FilmFour – 11.40pm

Ryan Reynolds is the Merc With A Mouth in this very funny, very violent, very profane comic book adaptation.

Lynch/Oz – FilmFour – 1.50am

A must-watch for movie lovers, with a number of famed filmmakers discussing the powerful influence that The Wizard Of Oz has had on the legendary David Lynch’s cinematic output.

Read more:

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!