Tom Cruise and the Top Ten

You didn't ask for it but you're gonna get it. I'm in a furious mood today, because I am sick and tired of people shitting on Tom Cruise. That's right, Tom Cruise. He is a whacky Scientologist. He enjoys jumping on couches and screaming really loudly. He possibly enjoys the company of men. He enjoys Joey Potter in his bed (a personal issue I have with him).

Get over it.

Tom Cruise is a phenomenal actor and has had, and is still having, a phenomenal career. He is everything Hollywood is good for. Why? Here's ten reasons.

#1 Risky Business (1983) - Joel Goodsen

Mr. Cruise's breakout role. His mixture of cockiness and innocence created the mould for the Tom Cruise of the future. He was charming. He was sweet. He was intelligent. The film itself is a wonderful exercise in 80s yuppie-youth sub-culture. The trippy music, the skewed sexual values, the time when Rebecca De Mornay was actually in good movies. We trusted Tom, even then. Plus he was FUNNY. The iconic dancing in his underwear scene is hilarious and utterly unselfconscious.

#2: Top Gun (1986) - Lt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell

Don't try and tell me you didn't wanna jump Tom's bones in this movie. I know I did. He was hot. He was Maverick. Why do you think Maverick has become the generic slang term for sexual domination i.e. "getting the hot chick"? Because Tom was The Man. What he said, you did. Tony Scott's hyperkinetic action film which made very second male in the world want to join the Air Force (allegedly half of these men actually DID), and increased the sales of Ray Ban sunglasses by 40% is a cultural signpost of the 80s. Sure it's shallow, sure it glorifies war. But it's excess is it's beauty. Michael Bay owes this film a lot. And Tom Cruise was the man reason why it succeeded.

#3: Born on the Fourth of July (1989) - Ron Kovic

Just when you thought Tom Cruise was some empty headed pretty boy, here he goes shitting on himself in a Vietnam War drama to prove you wrong. Possibly Mr. Cruise's most critically lauded performance, there is a reason for this: his character arc is EXTREME and Tom pulls it off without a hitch. To see him as a fresh-faced high school graduate excited to serve his country, and end up as a paralysed but hopeful anti-war protester, is gut-wrenchingly real. It is real. And Tom's physical and emotional similarity to the real-life Ron Kovic was uncanny. He didn't win the Oscar, and that was a crime (Day-Lewis is brilliant but in hindsight My Left Foot is not quite as classic and iconic performance, plus the dude is an Oscar whore).

#4: Interview With the Vampire (1994) - Lestat de Lioncourt

Evil. Tom Cruise is fucking evil in this film. I mean he is terrifying. And not for one second did he break character into hamminess and overacting, not even towards the end when he's all burnt to a crisp playing that piano being a freaky zombie-vampire thing. Some people accuse Tom Cruise of always being Tom Cruise, but I dare you to watch this film again and come back to me and say you only saw Tom Cruise in his Lestat. Neil Jordan's film has its problems, but none of them are because of Tom. Frankly whenever he isn't on screen the film suffers.

#5: Jerry Maguire (1996) - Jerry Maguire

The next phase of Tom's career. He's getting a little older. He's maturing. He's lost his boyish good looks and is becoming a man, whilst still desperately clinging to his youth. Jerry Maguire is all 90s earnestness wrapped up in a film which is sentimental without being cheesy, truthful without being preachy. Jerry Maguire is a man you will follow with his goldfish. Not because you trust him, but because you BELIEVE in him. Tom's eyes are burning with desperation in this film. The desperation to connect. Some people say they don't like this film. But when Tom goes back to Renee's house begging for her forgiveness and she says "you had me at hello" and you are NOT crying, I worry that perhaps you don't have a soul. Let the tears flow, people. Jerry Maguire earns every drop.

#6: Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - Dr. William 'Bill' Harford

Stanley Kubrick's last film and my personal favourite. Dr. Harford's descent into sexual perversity and darkness ranks up there with Scorsese's After Hours as the greatest tale of the New York of the shadows. Not Woody Allen's majestic Manhattan, but behind that facade. Taking over a year to shoot, Mr. Cruise's performance is undeniably real and in the moment. His journey of sexual awakening is profound and disturbing. What was the lesson he learnt in the end? I am not entirely sure myself after three viewings, but the feeling I get is more than enough. His Everyman is you or I. Tom has no tricks in this film. He is just a real person. Not a Hollywood person, just a real person.

#7: Magnolia (1999) - Frank T. J. Mackey

What a year 1999 was for Mr. Cruise. How he did not win the Oscar is beyond me. This is the film that I think is the most personal for Tom himself. Comparing the interview scene with the African-American woman to any of his real-life interviews, there is the same awkwardness, the same smile hiding a mask of vulnerability - "if you ask the wrong question..." This is not an insult, merely an observation and assumption. I'm not saying he is T.J. Mackey, just that they may have the same fears: of not being liked, not being in control, not maintaining power. When Mackey breaks down next to his father, that is not acting, that is life. That is truth. I just think that kind of truth cannot be made up. I see Tom, but I don't mind. He is being honest with us.

#8: Vanilla Sky (2001) - David Aames

An incredibly underrated film, and one I will defend to the end of the earth. Its message and ultimate impact is overwhelming. When he is on that building at the end deciding between his dream or reality I am a blubbering messy baby, weeping into my pillow. One of Tom Cruise's greatest gifts as an actor is his ability to constantly flip his personal image and play with it in his films. His David Aames is the irresponsible son of a giant media mogul, who has everything we know Tom Cruise to have: charm, arrogance, wealth. But when the 1st act is over and Tom Cruise's face becomes disfigured and his character is forced to deal (or not deal) with this, we see Tom Cruise dealing with this also. I see a piece of him in David just like a saw a piece of him in Mackey. He ISN'T Day-Lewis, method actor unrecognisable from film to film. He is always Tom Cruise, and he knows the baggage we as an audience bring to the table with that, and he uses it to his advantage.

#9: Collateral (2004) - Vincent

Ditto. Everything you know about Tom Cruise is played and flipped on itself as he portrays the ruthless, cold blooded assassin Vincent. The charm is still there but the killer smile is gone. We still KNOW it's Tom, but we don't trust him this time. We WANT to trust him, but when we do - just like Jamie Foxx does - we pay the price. Furthermore to my previous point, Tom Cruise is the perfect casting choice because he is Tom Cruise. We just don't expect this of him, so it is all the more shocking because of it. He is a great actor because he can pull this off whilst still being Tom Cruise. While other actors would flounder (can you imagine George Clooney being convincing in the role?) Tom has the dedication and acting clout to enthrall us in such a different choice of role.

#10 Tropic Thunder (2008) - Les Grossman

And finally, possibly the most brilliant casting decision of his career, comes Les Grossman. The year is 2008. Everyone hates Tom Cruise. I can't stop hearing the bitching about how people are sick of Tom Cruise, don't want to see a Tom Cruise movie, even going as far as saying they don't LIKE and never had liked Tom Cruise movies. And here he goes putting on a fat suit and swearing his ass off as a manic film executive. Once again, the fact that we know it's Tom Cruise (which IS difficult under all that wonderful makeup) only makes the role sweeter. Is he really doing this? Mr Self Serious actually has a sense of humour? Say it isn't so! It is so. Tom is funny. Tom is The Man.

THE END...

Thank you for reading. Now please go back out into the world with a renewed and proper vision of our beloved Tom Cruise. Spread the word about how great he is, and how wonderful his films have been, nourishing the world with hope, excitement, and the knowledge of how wonderful life truly can be, whether it's doing a doogy in a dogfight, cheering on Cuba at a football game, putting your balls on the line at an anti-war rally, or even biting Kirsten Dunst in the neck and keeping her as your surrogate vampire daughter. These are the experiences Tom has shared with us. If you are still not convinced, please visit his official website here to view a fantastic montage through all his films. You will be convinced.

We must not shit on thou Tom Cruise. We must remember the good times. We must remember that he is only an actor, and we cannot expect mere sanity from any actor. That is simply too much to ask. All we can ask is to be entertained, and Tom has done that for over 20 years and I sincerely thank him. Thank you Tom Cruise. Thank you.