What the hell is wrong with Tom Cruise?

filmcritic · July 22, 2003, 03:34:31 PM

While looking over "In Front of the Camera", I realized that there was no thread for Tom Cruise. He's a great actor and has worked with many talented directors. "Vanilla Sky", "Eyes Wide Shut", "Magnolia", "Born on the Fourth of July", "Jerry Maguire" and many other movies have really shown is depth as an actor.

ElPandaRoyal · July 22, 2003, 03:44:33 PM

Indeed. And I tell you something... it really pisses me of when people say he can't act. He's done a great number of films and amazing performances, my favourite being as Frank T. J. Mackey. He's great.

filmcritic · July 22, 2003, 03:47:14 PM

Oh, yeah! He absolutely can act!

rustinglass · July 22, 2003, 03:57:44 PM

I think magnolia and eyes wide shut show that he can act. the "no, I don't want a microphone" bit in magnolia is his best work, in my opinion.

Alethia · July 22, 2003, 04:20:13 PM

He doesn't have much range, per se, i mean every performance is a Tom Cruise performance (including Magnolia, just a bit more hyped up than usual), but fuck man...nobody can do the shit he can do. He's Tom Cruise. End of story. He is Tom Motherfucking Cruise. Nobody else can do the wide eyed, jaw agape, staring off into space, thinking intensely, then bursting into a screaming fit proceeding to curl up on the floor in hysterics better than him. Plus I don't think I'd want to see anybody crawling across the top of a speeding train, wrestling with John Voight, more than Tom Cruise. There are several other actors who are all their own in every film in that sense (harrison ford, woody allen, etc), but y'know, who the fuck else would we want to see do it?

Tom Cruise is a terrific actor.

rustinglass · July 22, 2003, 04:30:52 PM

Quote from: ewardThere are several other actors who are all their own in every film in that sense (harrison ford, woody allen, etc)

Can you imagine Tom Selleck was going to do Indiana Jones? I can't.

Alethia · July 22, 2003, 04:39:07 PM

yeah i honestly don't see that either................what about richard dreyfuss as han solo??????

actually, i really would have liked to have seen that..........

jonas · July 22, 2003, 04:47:27 PM

I agree. I think he gets a lot of flak because he's such a box office draw and household name.

He's great in:
Born on the 4th of July
Magnolia
Eyes Wide Shut
Interview with the Vampire

I also thought he was decent in Jerry Maguire, Minority Report and Vanilla Sky. I'm awaiting the Last Samurai.

SHAFTR · July 22, 2003, 07:41:01 PM

I think Cruise, along with Jim Carrey, are on top of their craft so much so it looks easy.

Sleuth · July 22, 2003, 08:53:32 PM

REDIRECT

filmcritic · July 22, 2003, 09:48:10 PM

What do ya'll think is his best performance?

Alethia · July 22, 2003, 10:25:14 PM

born on the fourth of july

filmcritic · July 22, 2003, 11:03:38 PM

There are many too choose from.

oakmanc234 · July 23, 2003, 05:36:32 AM

I was suprised how fucking good he was in 'Minority Report'. They advertised it like it was just some action hero gig for him, but he did some truly great dramatic stuff there.

His performance in 'Vanilla Sky' was under-rated too. Looking forward to 'Last Samurai'.

filmcritic · July 23, 2003, 09:52:40 AM

Yes, a lot of his work is underrated. He should have been up for an Oscar for "Vanilla Sky", "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Rain Man".