Happy birthday, Tom Cruise. The critically acclaimed actor celebrated his 61st birthday this week and to celebrate, I’m giving my five favorite performances from the whacko scientologist who has been a star for almost five decades.
Honorable Mention: Top Gun (1986), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Tropic Thunder (2008)
5. Jerry Maguire (1996)
“Help me help you.” Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire is infectious. He brings a charming aura to the screen that many other actors don’t have. His smile radiates confidence and for the entirety of the Cameron Crowe flick, Cruise makes the audience believe that he’s a hopeless romantic sports agent that has a deep devotion to his client(s). His performance goes into the romantic comedy hall of fame alongside Matthew McConaughey in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You. “SHOW ME THE MONEY!“
4. Rain Man (1988)
For Tom Cruise, Rain Man was his real breakout film that made him a megastar. He’d been in The Outsiders, Risky Business, and The Color of Money, but the rapid success of Rain Man landed him roles in the Mission Impossible franchise and A Few Good Men. He plays off Dustin Hoffman so well and displays a tremendous character arc. He goes from being aloof, selfish, and not wanting anything to do with his brother, to using him, to then coming full circle and caring about his brother. It’s a happy ending of sorts, but one that shows the type of character development that Cruise can convey.
3. A Few Good Men (1992)
While Tom Cruise has many memorable films and has been a part of a plethora of great scenes, none are more memorable than his back and forth with Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. “I WANT THE TRUTH!” It’s so intense, but watching a great young actor interact with a legend is nothing short of extraordinary. What I treasure so much about Cruise’s performance in A Few Good Men is the way he switches from being extremely charming to being intense. His range is on full display and there’s no doubt when you’re watching it that he’s a star.
2. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Not only does Eyes Wide Shut have my second favorite Tom Cruise performance of all time, but it’s also a very horny movie. That doesn’t have much to do with Cruises performance, but it felt pertinent to add. Cruise is so awesome in Eyes Wide Shut, because even when he doesn’t say anything, you can see the inner turmoil that he’s going through. He’s trying to figure out his wife’s sexual needs and also figure out his own, but he’s struggling to do so. This is the best Cruise performance in the sense where a look or glare conveys a lot of emotion.
1999 was a great year for Cruise. He had my first and second favorite performance from him (foreshadowing) with Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia. It’s not often does an actor work with two great directors and provide two great performances.
1. Magnolia (1999)
Last week I ranked every Paul Thomas Anderson movie for his birthday and I put Magnolia at number two. I remarked in that blog that a big reason for that was because of how much I loved Cruise’s performance. He steps far outside his comfort zone and plays an Andrew Tate-like figure that was way before his time. Cruise wraps his character, Frank T.J. Mackey, with a false bravado of confidence, but underneath everything harbors insecurities and loneliness. Seeing the progression of Magnolia and the way that Mackey’s exterior layer of confidence is chipped away shows off the great depth that Cruise has an actor.
I always note this when I write about Magnolia, but this film includes my favorite quote in any movie and it comes from Cruise. “Respect the cock! And tame the c**t! Tame it!” It’s just so wild and it’s the first time we ever seen Cruise on screen. That’s when you know this performance is going to be nothing like we’d ever seen from Cruise.
