The Tom Cruise Lists

With American Made hitting theaters today it's time to revisit the storied career of our old friend Tom Cruise. He has starred in films for Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick. He's gone from a teen idol, to a bonafide superstar with 3 Academy Award nominations and 3 Golden Globe wins. Chris and I have grown up on his films and now we pay tribute with . . .

The Tom Cruise Lists

Dan's List

5. Risky Business

This is the departure point on the Cruise vision quest.
He is incredibly believable as the naive prep Joel.
Through the film you see his transformation and Cruise carries it off seamlessly.
In addition to his breakthrough performance, this film is just straight up awesome.
The writing and direction, by Paul Brickman, are something special.
It should have made him huge, instead, he basically walked away from the business.
Add in the stunning, "Love On A Real Train" by Tangerine Dream, and it's pure bliss.
Just ask the great Roger Ebert, who blessed it with a 4 Star Review.


4. A Few Good Men

Cruise pairing with one of the best writers in the business.

I love just about everything Aaron Sorkin has written.

From "The West Wing" to THE SOCIAL NETWORK, he always delivers quality dialogue.

While not every actor can handle his writing style, Cruise excelled with it.

The questioning of Colonel Jessep will live on in film history.

Jack Nicholson got an Oscar nomination and Cruise helped him get it.

This could have easily won Best Picture and I still think UNFORGIVEN is overrated.

3. Mission: Impossible

This was the start of Cruise's second career as an action star.
I went to see MISSION on opening day, when I got there, it had already started.

I walked into an amazing sequence with a helicopter and a speeding train.

What a way to open a film!

After, Cruise has coffee, The Cranberries kick in and then, end credits?

I had walked into the wrong theater and saw the ending of an earlier showing.

Luckily, I was 11 years old and psyched that I got to see the chase twice.

For my money, this is the best installment of the series.

You know, before it became Kickin Impossible.

2. Top Gun

The start of The Streak.

What is the Streak?

It's possibly the greatest run of successful features by an actor in film history.

Here it is, in order:

TOP GUN, COLOR OF MONEY, COCKTAIL, RAIN MAN, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, DAYS OF THUNDER, FAR AND AWAY, A FEW GOOD MEN, THE FIRM, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, JERRY MAGUIRE.

That's 12 huge, awesome movies, in a row, over a 10 year span.

And if you want to get crazy it can keep going:

EYES WIDE SHUT, MAGNOLIA, M:I 2, VANILLA SKY, MINORITY REPORT.

That's 17 years without a flop!

TOP GUN never gets old and is infinitely quotable.

Plus, I think it was on TV every weekend, of my entire life.

At least once a year I find myself popping it in the DVD, playing with the boys.

1. The Color Of Money

Cruise and Scorsese.

A match made in pool hall heaven.

Oh, and another guy you may have heard of, Paul Newman.

This film is a sequel to THE HUSTLER, but stands up on its own merits.

Cruise plays the flake so well in this movie.

He even plays the flake, who is playing a flake, well.

Got that?

And his hair was perfect!

Now I'm gonna need you to go ahead and Do It To 'Em Cruisey!

Chris's List 

I don’t dislike early Tom Cruise. He made some solid, entertaining films that many now consider classics. Risky Business, The Color of Money, even Cocktail and others had there moments. Likewise, I don’t dislike action hero Tom Cruise – I have enjoyed all of the Mission: Impossible films, Edge of Tomorrow, and more. I just like him even more when he steps out of those two comfort zone roles (cocky pretty boy/action star) that he plays over and over again.

#5 – Top Gun

Obviously picking this at my #5 completely throws all of what I previously said out the window, but there is just too much fun and nostalgia in this movie for me to leave it out.

#4 – Minority Report

I feel this is an overlooked sci-fi gem for both Cruise and director Steven Spielberg. My appreciation for it grows every time I watch it. Some great futuristic tech and production design mixed with a stellar cast and even some philosophical pondering, which all great sic-fi films should have.  

#3 – Interview with the Vampire

I don’t know what it is about this film–maybe it’s my hometown Louisiana setting–but I love it. Cruise stands out in a rare villainous turn, and he looks to be having a blast as a blood-sucking blonde.

#2 – Magnolia

Leave it to Paul Thomas Anderson to coax out the best performance of Cruise’s multi-decade career. In a film full of towering performances (William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Cruise doesn’t get lost in the shuffle as he sheds his amped-up cocky persona for a few daddy-issue tears.

#1 – Collateral

Dan and I have never seen eye-to-eye on this Michael Mann crime classic. It didn’t even crack his Jamie Foxx Top 5 or Michael Mann Top 5, so no surprise he left it off of his Cruise list as well. A great, tense film that beautifully captures L.A. at night, as only Michael Mann can.  

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