Actor Spotlight: Tom Cruise

After four years without a new movie, Cruise is back in our lives this weekend

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May 27, 2022

We’ve been doing this newsletter for over three years, so it’s almost unthinkable that we’ve never done a Tom Cruise spotlight. This is mostly because he hasn’t had a new movie out since 2018’s Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Now, after about two years of COVID delays, we are finally getting to see Top Gun: Maverick, and it’s the perfect time to turn our attention to perhaps the biggest movie star of his generation.

After breaking out in 1986 as a major box office draw with Top Gun and The Color of Money, Cruise spent the next 20ish years building a reputation as a commercially successful actor that was also willing to challenge himself with difficult work (Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia). In the last 10 or so years, he has mostly stuck to the (dazzling) Mission: Impossible franchise, Jack Reacher movies, and sci-fi action. We wrote about a couple of our favorite Tom Cruise movies below, as well as ranked his five best performances. Let’s dive into the cinema of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

Drew recommends…

Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise has played more than a few hot shots throughout his career, and this makes sense. He’s handsome, he’s charismatic, and it’s often fun to see him get his comeuppance. In Top Gun, The Color of Money, A Few Good Men, and more, Cruise is young, arrogant, and (this is important) really damn good at what he does. Before Jerry Maguire in 1996, Cruise had often been this hot shot archetype for over a decade, so as Maguire, the lucrative sports agent that has it all, Cruise was able to play with this character type in fascinating, and down-to-earth, ways.

While Cruise is plenty convincing as a vain sports agent that needs to learn some lessons, the difference between hot shot Jerry Maguire and the previous Cruise hot shots is that Maguire is brought so low that he becomes a desperate mess. After his epiphany-inspired mission statement at the agency blows up his life, we see Maguire plead, grovel, and cry. The younger Cruise characters were always trying to maintain their façade, but, as Maguire, world-famous movie star and celebrity Tom Cruise is humanized and grounded as a lovestruck guy that isn’t above shout-singing Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” alone in his car. There’s a dozen different scenes like this that make me believe Cruise should’ve won his Oscar for this movie.

Writer and director Cameron Crowe (Say Anything, Almost Famous) surely deserves a ton of credit for the huge success of Jerry Maguire. What could have been a lousy Tom Cruise sports movie in lesser hands is instead that rare blend of comedy, drama, and romance that all work wonderfully. The quality of Crowe’s work may have dipped in the last two decades, but this film is a smart (and not to mention quotable) crowd-pleaser that we all want and need more often. Is there a better date movie than Jerry Maguire? I can’t think of one.

Speaking of the box office, this wasn’t even Cruise’s most financially successful movie of 1996. This was also the year of the first Mission: Impossible, which set him up with a reliable action franchise of his own for the next 25-plus years. With M:I as his big blockbuster and Jerry Maguire as his beloved Oscar-nominated picture, Cruise is on top of the world in 1996.

And yet, not many would consider him a natural romantic actor. His chemistry with his female co-stars has typically been so-so throughout his career and the romance in a Cruise movie is often awkward. Still, you root for Jerry and Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) to figure it out anyway, because Cruise and Zellweger are so undeniably charming and engaging. Throw in a terrific supporting cast of Cuba Gooding Jr., Bonnie Hunt, Regina King, and the cutest kid in movie history, and it’s no wonder Jerry Maguire has been winning people over for a long time.

Tom Cruise might not have the limitless acting talent of Denzel or DiCaprio, but his charisma and commitment and effort always carries the audience along, no matter what movie he’s in. First and foremost, the man strives to entertain us, which is why his movies tend to stand the test of time. When Cruise (as Maguire) tells us (and Rod Tidwell) that he’s out here for us and that it’s “an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege,” we absolutely believe him.

Available to rent digitally on demand

Billy recommends…

Risky Business

The idea of Tom Cruise being a heartthrob is long gone, but Risky Business set up a career that has been as unpredictable as it gets. It is a movie that feels like a blockbuster smash given the reputation and it made our greatest blockbuster actor a household name. What we get is actually a weird drug, romance, and minor coming-of-age movie. Okay, that last part isn’t exactly the best selling point. So let me remind you that this is the movie that has Tom Cruise sliding into frame in his underwear to the song “Old Time Rock & Roll” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.

Cruise plays Joel Goodson. The prototypical safe suburban kid that hasn’t taken a risk his whole life, an ambitious soul that needs to stretch that part of himself. His parents go out of town and his best friend convinces him to finally get wild for once in his life. His first and obvious reaction to his parents being out of town is…*checks notes”… call a prostitute. The woman that arrives is Lana, a night of passion and $300 charge later, the attempts to be reckless are getting out of control. Surprise, he can’t pay her. So he uses the family Porsche to try and remedy this chaotic situation and crashes it. I’ll save the rest of the plot for your viewing pleasure, but I divulge all of that to show how unexpected this movie is.

Not many coming-of-age stories go to the weird and provocative depths that Risky Business goes to. That provocative stigma was a part of who Cruise was as an actor until about Eyes Wide Shut. He wanted to work with the best directors in the world and when possible add an extra layer to a movie that seemingly will be by the numbers. His success rate during this part of his career was admittedly mixed, but this current part of his career has been more consistent in quality while being more predictable.

With that thought I want to challenge you with what type of career do you want a star actor to pursue? Cruise’s early part of his career is one of the most fascinating for any movie star ever. He has a knack for choosing amazing talent to work with and giving his all to every project he works for. That is the beautiful thing about Cruise’s career. There are 3 separate runs of amazing movies over 30 years that are absolutely legendary and each of those runs has a completely different feel to them. Pick and choose which suits you best, but I am still trying to figure out which era I like the most.

Streaming on HBO Max