Tom Cruise had movie star written all over him from the beginning. He had that look of charm, that smirk of confidence. In the beginning, he played a few roles as impudent, smart-ass characters. His on-screen persona was a perfect match for being Maverick on Top Gun, one of the all-time great pioneering movies. Let's check out the memorable volleyball scene where great cinematography masked Tom's vertical challenges.
2) The Immaculate Performance
Cruise's acting reached momentous heights with his immaculate performance in Rain Man opposite Dustin Hoffman, who himself turned in one of his greatest performances and won the Oscar. Tom held his own throughout the movie and was not upstaged by Hoffman's brilliance. The plot of the movie is that Cruise and Hoffman's characters drive cross-country. Not much happens, except some tremendously great acting in scene after scene. It is an overall all-time great movie and performances with a great soundtrack to boot.
3) Turbulence, Spiral, Just Strange
Things started to get rocky as Cruise married and divorced Nicole Kidman, made a bizarre movie, Eyes Wide Shut, mixed in with some good performances in A Few Good Men and Jerry Maguire (nominated for Oscar). He joined scientology, became involved with Katie Holmes, and then it all came to a surprising head with the couch hop. His strange behavior on Oprah costed movie studios about a billion dollars. This clip speaks for itself.
4) Redemption...Rise of the Phoenix!!!
Cruise earned a measure of redemption with a hilarious role in Tropic Thunder. It was an interesting cast, as Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr, Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom's individual stars were all moving in different directions. Nonetheless, it was a funny movie where Tom showed his sense of humour by not taking himself too seriously.
So, where are we now with Tom Cruise??? His past few movies have come and gone without much fanfare. We choose to remember the good times, and so we induct Tom Cruise into the Blondie Hall of Fame. I...feel...amazing!!! Couch hop!!!