TOP 5 TOM CRUISE PERFORMANCES
Tom Cruise is an actor that a lot of people have admired and respected over the years. Sure; he does have his detractors in regard to his personal life. But there are others out there that have been impressed what he's been able to do within his long-lasting career. Whether it'd be jumping out of planes, driving fast cars, or performing death-defying stunts, there's a reason why he's respected by his peers. But what impressed me the most is whenever he takes on the more dramatic roles.
Afterall, that is what he started doing before he did his phase of action blockbusters, like Jack Reacher and Mission Impossible. Before that, Tom used to showcase his dramatic chops by playing complex individuals and worked with a wide range of directors. Whether it'd be someone as controversial as Oliver Stone or the whimsy, lovable Steven Spielberg, it's fascinating how many directors he's worked with to deliver these terrific roles.
This week, Tom Cruise's next film, Digger, comes out in theaters nationwide and this time he'll be working with 4-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Alejandro González Iñárritu. And I figured it was time to rip the band-aid open on what I feel is the actor's top five best performances I've seen. Like my other top five lists I've done, all of my choices are subjective. Unfortunately, I won't be able to include Digger in my list as I haven't seen it at the time of writing this. However, I will include some honorable mentions I have seen that just missed the cut:
The Firm
Jerry Maguire
Minority Report
Risky Business
Top Gun: Maverick
Tropic Thunder
With that said, let's get started!
5) A Few Good Men
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officers such as shady Col. Nathan Jessup.
A Few Good Men showcases that it isn't just about what you can prove, but how far one's willing to risk jeopardizing their career for the greater good. The film also addresses a topic that's still going on within today's society, which is abuse in power. While it doesn't provide anything new in that messaging, it does provide us a crowd-pleasing courtroom drama with great performances from the ensemble, including Tom Cruise.
One of the many talents he's good at playing: intense, cocky characters. Granted, he's playing a guy, who at first does the bare minimum to not get fired from his job, which this kind of trait can be irritating to watch for some people. As time goes on, he realizes that he needs to do more in order to not just save these two defendants, but to instill justice to those that misuse their authority.
That can be seen as a common theme among courtroom dramas, but what makes this work is witnessing Tom spouting off Aaron Sorkin's dialogue, which can be a good thing or a bad thing. The pro and con to his writing is that he can write these snappy quips that are memorable to listen, but can get in the way of creating dramatic moments. This kind of writing can work for The Social Network, but in other cases can backfire for audiences like Being the Ricardos. With A Few Good Men, it really does work as not only is the dialogue engaging to witness, but it's based off of his critically-acclaimed play.
It also helps that Tom's working alongside some truly amazing actors from Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, and of course Jack Nicholson. If nothing else, that final stretch where Daniel has to cross-examine Nathan in court is some of the best acting you'll ever see from Tom and Jack. It's a highly entertaining performance in an entertaining film from the late Rob Reiner.
4) Born on the Fourth of July
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Born on the Fourth of July was noted as a turning point for Tom Cruise. At this point in his career, he was known as playing the cocky, youthful kid you'd see in films like Top Gun, Risky Business, and The Color of Money. After coming off the heels of Rain Man, Tom gets a chance to progress from a younger actor into a man.
He's able to capture the awkward mannerisms of a high schooler in a believable manner, as well as showcasing his belief in serving his country. When he fights in the war, you see Tom react to such harsh conditions of combat with such raw emotions. Those moments specifically felt like a genuine performance, rather than someone thinking that's how veterans reacted to the gruesome violence.
If anything, I appreciated the guts Tom had of taking on this role not just as a way of showing us he has the skills of being a dramatic lead, but also being able to have us buy into his take on Ron Kovic. We see his cheery mood from his youth slowly drain away from him as the film progresses into the more dark, bitter moments of the man's life. If I had any nitpicks with the performances, there's a few times where his attempts to tap into the character feel a bit too much for me; even then, it's not enough to ruin what I'd consider to be an important film to watch.
3) Rain Man
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: When car dealer, Charlie Babbitt, learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both of their lives.
Rain Man was a notable box-office hit and Oscar-winning film at the time, winning Best Picture and Best Director for Barry Levinson. Looking back on it, the film has a familiar structure within its story beats that are similar to other cross-country trip films. However, what made this work for me outside of Barry's directing was the performances by the brothers.
Dustin Hoffman won his second Academy Award for playing Raymond and he does a solid job playing an autistic person, without ever coming off as an offensive portrayal like Riding the Bus with My Sister or I Am Sam. I would argue that while Dustin does a great job, the performance wouldn't have worked as well if you don't have Tom Cruise in the Charlie role. Yes; it's relying on what Tom knows how to do during his career at that point, playing youthful, cocky characters.
But what makes this performance stand out to me is that I can buy him playing this, who grows over the course of the film does become a better person and a kind brother. Even the way he reacts off of Raymond earlier in the film, and Tom's facial expressions can be funny to watch as every trick he tries just fails one after another. I'll even say his dramatic moments later in the film are sweet and endearing to watch, as we just spent well over two hours seeing this guy go from screwing over his dad by stealing his brother's inheritance to actually wanting to care for him.
I'm not one for supporting ties at the Academy Awards, but if they were to ever give out a tie for Lead Actor, I think this would've been a great opportunity. I get why Tom wasn't nominated for this performance, as they've had a history of not giving their younger, movie stars their own Oscars (cough Timothée Chalamet cough). But this is clearly a two-hander film, where one performance doesn't work without the other. I'm happy for Dustin winning his Oscar, but that trophy belongs to Tom as much as it does him.
2) Collateral
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: Cab driver Max picks up a man who offers him $600 to drive him around. But the promise of easy money sours whne Max realizes his fare is an assassin.
Collateral is a terrific thriller, filled with great tension building and amazing performances by Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise. While Jamie is deserving of his Academy Award nomination, I felt Tom was equally deserving of that Oscar nomination as well. He brings his charm to the role, but you always feel there's something off with this guy. Not in a way that he'll go crazy at any minute, but in a way to where he's calculating his next move if you don't do what he says.
It's rare to see Tom play such a ruthless villain, as I usually associate him with playing the heroes. And you'd think he'd be the wrong guy to play this part, when in reality he's perfect for it. I also have to hand director, Michael Mann, credit as he's able to bring the best out of his actors.
If you'd like to hear more of my thoughts on the film itself, I wrote a retro review for it on the site. But yeah; this is an amazing performance by Tom Cruise. If you haven't seen the film yet or haven't watched it in a long time, throw it on and enjoy the ride!
1) Magnolia
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host, and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
I've already talked about Magnolia on my top five list for Paul Thomas Anderson, so I'll try to be brief. But be warned, this will be a spoiler discussion. The film revolves around a mosaic of interconnected characters in their search for happiness and forgiveness. Within the story, we find Frank T.J. Mackey in the middle of his misogynistic but charaismatic seminar, where he's speaking to various men on how to seduce women.
In-between his lunch break, he does an interview with a journalist, who discovers that he's lying about his personal background. What he does with this scene as well as the ending itself is some of Tom's best work, as he's not screaming his head off at this woman. Rather, he's shutting down but is doing it in a way that feels legit without saying much. When I see Tom play this character, I don't see him playing a character; I see him as the character.
Even when he talks to his dying father, it's a scene that doesn't feel like Tom acting out a scene. It's as if he's that guy. What makes this a fascinating character is that apparently, Tom was shocked how much of the father/son relationship was eerily similar to his own life to where he had to ask Paul if he knew this is what he went through his own late father. Regardless, this is an incredible performance by Tom Cruise and is easily my favorite role he's played. To this day, I wished he won his deserved Academy Award for this performance.
Conclusion
Tom Cruise has had a fascinating career as an actor. He's played a wide variety of roles and to see him change into this stunt man, movie star is nuts. Even the stunts he'll do to entertain us makes me more impressed by the guy, especially in the last few Mission Impossible films. At the time of this article being released, Digger will have been released publicly to the world.
We'll have to see if this'll land him an Academy Award nomination, let alone his own competitive Oscar. If this isn't the role that'll land him his first win, then my buddy, Nick Zednik, owes me a BIG apology as he's been hyping this outcome for a long time. Jokes aside, I do sincerely hope Tom is able to take on more riskier roles that challenges him as a dramatic actor. As while I do love his dedication to entertaining us in those action blockbusters, I prefer him challenging himself as a dramatic, character actor.
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