My Best Film: Tom Cruise

[Devon Malcolm]

To make it fair, no Mission: Impossible stuff. Also, I know what tastes are like round here and @Frankie Crisp has suffered enough the last day or so.

I mean, for me it's Eyes Wide Shut. Like with many of Kubrick's films, I didn't connect with it at the start. And then I did and it's one of the greatest films ever made. As is Magnolia. Remember when Paul Thomas Anderson made good films?

I had to leave a lot of really good films off this, hence the Other option.

Remember:-

Edited December 23, 2023 by Devon Malcolm

[Keith Houchen]

Magnolia for me. It’s a better film than the rest and of course, Frank TJ Mackey is king. Every year on V Day, my brother sends me the relevant pic. 

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Legend is my favourite but my favourite performance is Magnolia. Edge of tomorrow is brilliant as well.

[SuperBacon]

Respect the cock! Tame the cunt! Magnolia takes it for me.

I must say I have a lot of time for Jerry Maguire and think that film went a long way to making people see Tom as a "proper" actor (whatever that means)

Cocktail is also a 10/10 performance and a 10/10 film, and seemingly one we would watch monthly when I was younger. Quality.

[DavidB6937]

Apart from Maverick I haven't seen any of them in quite some time. Seems like a good excuse for a rewatch..

[Devon Malcolm]

Speak up, A Few Good Men fans! I love that film, too.

[Hannibal Scorch]

This is so hard. Because Top Gun Maverick was my favourite cinema experience of 2022 and the only film I saw more than once at the Cinema. But I find Edge of Tomorrow such a fun easy watch (and Emily Blunt, swoon).

But as far something that I feel was kind of appreciated at the time but not brought up much now days, his turn in Collateral was fantastic. Beautifully shot film as well. Needs a long over due rewatch, so that’s me for next week.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

A Few Good Men for me. Thankfully the out of context thread is dead. Not a bad acting performance in the film, but Tom really holds his own against a bravura performance from Nicholson. 

Jack Reacher could be a good film but because I'm a book wanker I can't get past the obvious difference between Tiddly Tom and the description of Reacher in the book. Alan Richson is Jack Reacher, no one else. 

[Keith Houchen]

Jack Reacher does have the lovely Rosamund though, and of course HERZOG as the baddie! I popped like a motherfucker when I heard his dulcet tones before the big reveal. It was pro wrestling 101. 

[Dr. Alan Grant]

I love Cruise. I couldn’t name one of his films that I’d class as shit*. There are a few average ones like Oblivion and Knight & Day but his mere presence elevates them. I’d have to give my vote to Minority Report. Whenever I’ve tried to think of who my favourite actors are, my go to answer was usually Tom Hanks. But I may have been picking the wrong Tom. Last Samurai, Tropic Thunder, Jerry Maguire, even Vanilla Sky. I like him in them all. I’m with @DavidB6937, it’s time for a Cruise marathon. 
 

Also, War Of The Worlds is criminally underrated. 

*Haven’t seen The Mummy yet.

[Keith Houchen]

3 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Collateral

Great shout. 
 

 

12 minutes ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

Last Samurai

Great shout. 
 

My aforementioned brother has long been a Cruiser, I used to be sceptical. He simply said “Look at all the directors who he worked with and who want to work with him and then tell me he’s shit”. I couldn’t argue with that at all. 

[Mr_Danger]

Great topic! Jack Reacher is the only one on that list I haven’t seen but I was listening to Werner Herzog talking about his acting roles and he mentioned he plays a despicable heel in Reacher and it instantly moved up my to watch list. 
 

From that list it’s a toss up between Magnolia and Edge of Tomorrow. Magnolia is without a doubt his finest role and he steals the film but it’s a big ensemble and it doesn’t feel as much like ‘his’ film as the others. Edge of Tomorrow just tunes in to that part of my brain dedicated to video games and I love a time loop.

The film I’ve probably seen most is Jerry Maguire. I really loved that film for a long time.

[Just Some Guy]

I loved A Few Good Men but it was more for Demi Moore than Tom Cruise.

From that era, and I'm surprised no-one has mentioned it yet, The Firm.

It felt like a great claustrophobic, paranoid thriller at the time.

Not seen it in years so I'll let someone say if it still holds up (or was any good in the first place).

[WeeAl]

Bugger me, where do you start. His filmography is banger after fucking banger from beginning to present day. Rain Man and Risky Business are another two I love. Then you have the fun Days of Thunder, the first Top Gun. It's all good stuff. On any given day I could pick a different movie for different reasons. Maybe today I'll go Collateral, to show how good a baddie he can be. Or Top Gun: Maverick which proves Tom just bloody  knows how to do a sequel. 

Cruise is going to be the last true Hollywood A Lister when it's all over. Wait to you see his version of being Paul Newman in the 3rd entry of The Hustler/Colour of Money series in about ten years. He'll be magic. 

[Devon Malcolm]

3 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

I love Cruise. I couldn’t name one of his films that I’d class as shit*.

*Haven’t seen The Mummy yet.

It's shit.