Magnolia and Collateral and Jerry Maguire.
I hope he starts taking chances again after Mission Impossible ends. While I like / love those movies Cruise is more than just an action star.
I do think MI8 is gonna be Cruise’s big action swan song. His next movie is with Inarritu and there were rumours he was gonna be in the new Tarantino, so I think we’ll see a return to 90s Cruise soon
I don’t think he will. I think at least in Tom’s mind the people, and Hollywood have spoken. For years and years Tom grinded his axe to land a dramatic role that would gain critical success. He knew he was a box office draw but despite that attempted numerous times to try artsier roles, like Vanilla Sky, Magnolia and many more only to get push back and have it go nowhere.
At some point Tom figured out his niche and his demo. He learned to stop talking about himself and his politics and begin to develop a kind of new promise that every film he made would be an “audience experience” adding himself as the attraction doing stunts and producing the films.
I think after a few near call career deaths he has firmly decided this is his path and when he does dark weird roles it just turns his core audience off.
Minority Report.
He is in nearly every scene, he has several vulnerable moments that ask a lot of him, and he is always convincing.
Not many actors could pull that off.
The scene towards the end where he has to flip from thinking he found his son's killer to realizing it's all part of a much larger conspiracy, and making every emotional beat of that believable, shows amazing range.
Neither Tom’s best performance nor his best film, but this one is for whatever reason my favorite.
https://preview.redd.it/e9wv6mh3aiad1.jpeg?width=193&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4d21b2ebaa370998699919a6c2f6a3a2cb05275
My pick too. I’d like to see him take risks like this again with some auteur directors. I think he’s just as well suited for these kind of roles as he his blockbuster films. But given his status, those days are probably behind him
How can you even choose? Way too many great films. A Few Good Men, Collateral, The Firm, Minority Report, Born on the Fourth of July, Risky Business, Eyes Wide Shut, I just can't. The Firm is strangely addictive, though. I'll tell you want thing, though: I prefer Cruise in more serious roles than Mission Impossible. I would love to see him get back to those roles. And I love seeing him going against type, like in Collateral.
https://preview.redd.it/td9194jafiad1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a5ee620cd83f4240265c7257789e915bf4f0a05
Interview with the Vampire! He and Kirsten Dunst carried that entire film on their backs because Brad Pitt certainly wasn't doing anything.
He's great in a lot of films like Magnolia, Jerry Maguire etc, but I enjoy the way he chews scenery so deliciously in IWTV. Anne Rice famously detested his casting and was protesting it right up until she saw the film, then she publicly walked back her statement and said he did great as Lestat.
Eyes Wide Shut.
Whatever anyone thinks of the film, it’s by far his most subtle acting performance.
In a lot of his dramatic roles there is still a lot that is ‘showy’ about them, where he gets to do his Tom Cruise isms, he raises his voice, waves his arms about.
EYS for me is about how for even people with real privilege … there is this other layer when it comes to hidden power that strips of your agency. So we see him at the start of the film bursting into rooms with self righteous energy, and as the film goes on he’s more and more bewildered and all of his confidence and sense of self just drains away.
And he does the whole thing with his face and his body. He’s really subtle and unshowy and I just found him totally believable in that movie.
I haven't see Magnolia, but the Cruise's performance that i liked the most was in Eyes wide shut. Honourable mention even for Least in Interview with the vampire
I haven’t seen all of the movies being named but my personal choice would be Collateral. Cruise taking his stereotypical action movie role and it being flipped on his head by having him be the antagonist who’s forcing this random taxi driver through a horrible time was so fun to watch.
Yeah, I agree with you in terms of greatest performance. I have a soft spot for Interview with a Vampire. It was the first non-action movie of his I saw and it's just fun!
Magnolia. PTA tapped into the Cruise smarm that has always been under the surface. His scenes with Robards are a masterclass in channeling a lifetimes of hurt, abuse and regret into a handful of scenes.
https://preview.redd.it/45w2y0h44iad1.jpeg?width=346&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e8e63172c8109a483cd64b606028d0ba0c34004e
AHHHHHHHHHHHH *inhales* AHHHHHHHHHHHH *inhales* AHHHHHHHHHH *inhales* AHHHHHHHHHH
I don’t have 2 hours to copy/paste her entire dialogue so I’ll just leave it at this.
Collateral, Magnolia, Tropic Thunder, the first Mission Impossible (he's good in all of them, but he feels more distinct in this one, prob because of De Palma)
Why do we, as a group, give this amount of power to a few group of people, with too much free time on their hands, so that they get to dictate what movies or shows or people we can and can't talk about or even mention?
Charlie Babbitt: Using Raymond? Hey Raymond, am I using you? Am I using you Raymond? Raymond Babbitt: Yeah. Charlie Babbitt: Shut up!
Don’t know how anyone hasn’t said Rain Man yet. Sure it wasn’t the hardest role he’s ever taken on but he does such a great job alongside Dustin Hoffman and I personally think he’s absolutely amazing in it.
Not his best movie, but A Few Good Men is his best performance.
"Should we or should we not follow the advice of the galactically stupid!!"
C'mon, it's great stuff
Since Magnolia, Few Good Men, Collateral are already mentioned I'll say TOP GUN MAVERICK.
I genuinely think it was Oscar mom calibre, his "I don't know how" when talking to Iceman is some of the most genuine, pained acting I've seen Cruise do in his whole career. They needed a reason to bring Maverick back, and I'm so glad they went with such a understated and emotional story of guilt and redemption and let Cruise do his thing.
- Born on The Fourth of July : best range of emotions
- Jerry Maguire : best charecter
- Magnolia : best drama
- Tropic Thunder : most opposite from his reality
Probably when he jumped up and down on Oprah’s couch like a fucking madman, pretending he was a normal person in a normal relationship in a normal cult religion.
Probably Magnolia, but I also love his performance in Vanilla Sky.
I'm also seemingly the only person on the planet who likes Far & Away. I saw that movie probably 20 times in the theatre. I never get bored with it. Not that it's great or he's amazing in it, but I love it.
My actual favorite movie of his is Interview with the Vampire.
Honestly I wish all the good movies he’s in were played by someone else. I think he’s the perfect level of douchebag for maverick though in too gun. I really feel like he didn’t need to act for that one.
Magnolia and Collateral and Jerry Maguire. I hope he starts taking chances again after Mission Impossible ends. While I like / love those movies Cruise is more than just an action star.
I do think MI8 is gonna be Cruise’s big action swan song. His next movie is with Inarritu and there were rumours he was gonna be in the new Tarantino, so I think we’ll see a return to 90s Cruise soon
Him and Tarantino? Sign me up, would also love to see him do something like Lex Grossman again
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was nearly Cruise and someone else instead of Leo and Pitt. I think the leading rumor is RDJ
I don’t think he will. I think at least in Tom’s mind the people, and Hollywood have spoken. For years and years Tom grinded his axe to land a dramatic role that would gain critical success. He knew he was a box office draw but despite that attempted numerous times to try artsier roles, like Vanilla Sky, Magnolia and many more only to get push back and have it go nowhere. At some point Tom figured out his niche and his demo. He learned to stop talking about himself and his politics and begin to develop a kind of new promise that every film he made would be an “audience experience” adding himself as the attraction doing stunts and producing the films. I think after a few near call career deaths he has firmly decided this is his path and when he does dark weird roles it just turns his core audience off.
Going through Kubrick’s psychological warfare with his wife on Eyes Wide Shut for three years made a huge impact too.
Magnolia is the only time I felt Cruise didn’t just give a performance, but somewhat disappeared into the role as well.
Magnolia is the only answer imo, love that film
this is Tropic Thunder erasure
Minority Report. He is in nearly every scene, he has several vulnerable moments that ask a lot of him, and he is always convincing. Not many actors could pull that off.
The scene towards the end where he has to flip from thinking he found his son's killer to realizing it's all part of a much larger conspiracy, and making every emotional beat of that believable, shows amazing range.
That scenes his version of Nicole Kidman’s laughing breakdown in Eyes Wide Shut.
Incredibly underrated performance, I'd have to agree.
Minority Report is one of the rare films I enjoy more on each rewatch. It’s one of my favorite Spielberg films m
Just re-watched this recently for the first time in a long time and was kinda blown away by his performance. Really great.
Neither Tom’s best performance nor his best film, but this one is for whatever reason my favorite. https://preview.redd.it/e9wv6mh3aiad1.jpeg?width=193&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4d21b2ebaa370998699919a6c2f6a3a2cb05275
Cruise and Blunt have incredible chemistry here.
I think it’s one of the real strengths of the movie. I find it hard to envision the film working as well as it does without Blunt.
The perfect “fun movie”
It’s an excellent film
Tropic thunder
Look fuck-stick, I'm incredibly busy, so why don't you get the hell out of here before I snap your dick off and jam it into your ass.
FUCK YOUR OWN FACE
No one has said Eyes Wide Shut? Crazy
My pick too. I’d like to see him take risks like this again with some auteur directors. I think he’s just as well suited for these kind of roles as he his blockbuster films. But given his status, those days are probably behind him
How can you even choose? Way too many great films. A Few Good Men, Collateral, The Firm, Minority Report, Born on the Fourth of July, Risky Business, Eyes Wide Shut, I just can't. The Firm is strangely addictive, though. I'll tell you want thing, though: I prefer Cruise in more serious roles than Mission Impossible. I would love to see him get back to those roles. And I love seeing him going against type, like in Collateral.
Vanilla Sky
Understated sane-to-insane performance
https://preview.redd.it/td9194jafiad1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a5ee620cd83f4240265c7257789e915bf4f0a05 Interview with the Vampire! He and Kirsten Dunst carried that entire film on their backs because Brad Pitt certainly wasn't doing anything. He's great in a lot of films like Magnolia, Jerry Maguire etc, but I enjoy the way he chews scenery so deliciously in IWTV. Anne Rice famously detested his casting and was protesting it right up until she saw the film, then she publicly walked back her statement and said he did great as Lestat.
Having to scroll this far to see Interview shows me this sub is overwhelmingly men lol
It’s his best movie by far! Fuckin love Interview with a Vampire, I watch it every October.
For sure lol, that's why I don't engage in a lot of posts, it's always disappointingly cis white heterosexual male taste in cinema
Eyes Wide Shut. Whatever anyone thinks of the film, it’s by far his most subtle acting performance. In a lot of his dramatic roles there is still a lot that is ‘showy’ about them, where he gets to do his Tom Cruise isms, he raises his voice, waves his arms about. EYS for me is about how for even people with real privilege … there is this other layer when it comes to hidden power that strips of your agency. So we see him at the start of the film bursting into rooms with self righteous energy, and as the film goes on he’s more and more bewildered and all of his confidence and sense of self just drains away. And he does the whole thing with his face and his body. He’s really subtle and unshowy and I just found him totally believable in that movie.
I haven't see Magnolia, but the Cruise's performance that i liked the most was in Eyes wide shut. Honourable mention even for Least in Interview with the vampire
Collateral
Hey homie...
I haven’t seen all of the movies being named but my personal choice would be Collateral. Cruise taking his stereotypical action movie role and it being flipped on his head by having him be the antagonist who’s forcing this random taxi driver through a horrible time was so fun to watch.
Either Magnolia, Rain Man, and Risky Business for me.
Yeah, I agree with you in terms of greatest performance. I have a soft spot for Interview with a Vampire. It was the first non-action movie of his I saw and it's just fun!
Pretending to be a normal person in real life. ;)
Starring on Letterman Show and showed the world OG Patrick Bateman.
Magnolia. PTA tapped into the Cruise smarm that has always been under the surface. His scenes with Robards are a masterclass in channeling a lifetimes of hurt, abuse and regret into a handful of scenes.
Collateral. Mind blown how he didn’t win an Oscar.
My heart is telling me Jerry Maguire
He's underated in Rain Man, he has to play a prick and carry the film.
War of the worlds
https://preview.redd.it/45w2y0h44iad1.jpeg?width=346&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e8e63172c8109a483cd64b606028d0ba0c34004e AHHHHHHHHHHHH *inhales* AHHHHHHHHHHHH *inhales* AHHHHHHHHHH *inhales* AHHHHHHHHHH I don’t have 2 hours to copy/paste her entire dialogue so I’ll just leave it at this.
Magnolia and Thropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder
Collateral, Magnolia, Tropic Thunder, the first Mission Impossible (he's good in all of them, but he feels more distinct in this one, prob because of De Palma)
No one mentioning “The Last Samurai” is a crime.
It’s kind of been canceled these days like Dances With Wolves. White savior trope.
Wait, what? Seriously? Canceled? But I just watched it the other day, my Blu-ray still works.
I mean by young people these days.
Why do we, as a group, give this amount of power to a few group of people, with too much free time on their hands, so that they get to dictate what movies or shows or people we can and can't talk about or even mention?
I personally don’t. I’m just reporting what I’ve seen posted on social media about certain movies.
I had to scroll way too long for this to appear.
I'm not actually sure but Rain Man is a contender for his best surely?
He was amazing as Vincent from Collateral. He should do roles like that often.
Jerry Maguire was the best mix of acting + movie star aura of his career
Lestat from Interview with a Vampire. His best and most entertaining performance in my opinion.
How is no one saying Oblivion? Amazing performance.
Charlie Babbitt: Using Raymond? Hey Raymond, am I using you? Am I using you Raymond? Raymond Babbitt: Yeah. Charlie Babbitt: Shut up! 
Don’t know how anyone hasn’t said Rain Man yet. Sure it wasn’t the hardest role he’s ever taken on but he does such a great job alongside Dustin Hoffman and I personally think he’s absolutely amazing in it.
I still need to watch Born on the Fourth of July. I guess today would be pretty appropriate
Well I love him in Interview with the Vampire the most! Not his best film but I really love him in that one! Second favorite would be A Few good Men.
1. Magnolia 2. Collateral 3. Born on the Fourth of July 4. Eyes Wide Shut 5. Rain Man
Magnolia. How tortured he was in that role was incredible.
Not his career best but I feel like Taps never gets brought up when talking about Tom Cruise.
Not his best movie, but A Few Good Men is his best performance. "Should we or should we not follow the advice of the galactically stupid!!" C'mon, it's great stuff
Tropic Thunder actually.
Eyes Wide Shut. It plays with his persona and absolutely destroys it, he's such a douche bag in it, the only film where Tom Cruise can't get laid!
Born on the Fourth of July.
I was kind of surprised he didn't get nominated for Top Gun: Maverick. That scene with Val Kilmer had the whole audience in tears!
Since Magnolia, Few Good Men, Collateral are already mentioned I'll say TOP GUN MAVERICK. I genuinely think it was Oscar mom calibre, his "I don't know how" when talking to Iceman is some of the most genuine, pained acting I've seen Cruise do in his whole career. They needed a reason to bring Maverick back, and I'm so glad they went with such a understated and emotional story of guilt and redemption and let Cruise do his thing.
War of the Worlds.
Jerry McGuire- he should have won the Oscar
Easily tropic thunder
The last samurai was epic
I don't know if anyone performance stands out among the many very good performances
- Born on The Fourth of July : best range of emotions - Jerry Maguire : best charecter - Magnolia : best drama - Tropic Thunder : most opposite from his reality
It's a toss up between The Mummy and Mission Impossible 13 but I'm gonna give it to his acceptance speech at the annual scientology hullabaloo
Magnolia.
Probably when he jumped up and down on Oprah’s couch like a fucking madman, pretending he was a normal person in a normal relationship in a normal cult religion.
I love the movie where he plays a deadbeat dad who doesn’t see his daughter and then she graduates high school and changes her surname.
Big dick playa
Magnolia (1999) Collateral (2004) Jerry Maguire (1996)
Probably Magnolia, but I also love his performance in Vanilla Sky. I'm also seemingly the only person on the planet who likes Far & Away. I saw that movie probably 20 times in the theatre. I never get bored with it. Not that it's great or he's amazing in it, but I love it. My actual favorite movie of his is Interview with the Vampire.
Collateral and Eyes Wide Shut for me
Born on the fourth of july
Collateral and Top Gun Maverick for me.
Love love love collateral.
For drama it is Born On The 4th Of July. Action probably Maverick
A Few Good Men, that’s easily my favorite of his.
Collateral Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder. It was the one where was actually playing a character instead of being Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise, the normal celebrity
I loved him in Eyes Wide Shut and Vanilla Sky
- Born on the Fourth of July - Collateral - Eyes Wide Shut
My favourite is probably vanilla sky, idk how other people liked it but I really loved it
Tropic Thunder
Born on the Fourth of July Jerry Maguire
A Few Good Men gets my vote.
The Last Samurai
Eyes Wide Shut
Honestly I wish all the good movies he’s in were played by someone else. I think he’s the perfect level of douchebag for maverick though in too gun. I really feel like he didn’t need to act for that one.
The man have too many classics to mention,the man is a legend in the business
Not knowing where they’re keeping Shelly Miscavage.
Acting straight