[Review is for the "Assembly Cut" as found on the Blu-ray set.]

I decided to watch this again more or less on a whim and while I'm glad I gave it another look I can't say that my feelings about this fascinting, frustrating film has changed all that much. That said, the "Assembly Cut"—an attempt to recreate director David Fincher's original cut of the movie made without his participation (or, I'm guessing, his approval)—offers a substantial improvement over the theatrical…

This one just creeps over the three-star line for me. It's a gripping procedural with some really extraordinary stretches—starting with a remarkable wordless opening sequence—but Cruise just doesn't work as the lead. That pains me to say as I usually like him. And having never read any of the books in the series from which it's taken, I don't really have any preconceptions about the character and could care less that Cruise is shorter than the hero of the source…