![]() “Risky Business” (1983) “Risky Business” ©Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collectionįew actors embodied the ‘80s as a time of simultaneous repression and entitlement like Tom Cruise in “Risky Business.” Paul Brickman’s capitalist satire, with its silky Tangerine Dream score and night cinematography by Bruce Surtees and Reynaldo Villalobos worthy of a Wong Kar-Wai movie, finds Cruise’s high school senior Joel having sex with a call girl (Rebecca De Mornay) on a dare and getting entangled in her orbit until he’s running a brothel from his house. Samantha Bergeson, Christian Blauvelt, and Kate Erbland also contributed to this story. ![]() ![]() While it’s hard to pick favorites across a career so stacked with iconic titles, we went back through Cruise’s filmography to pick his 20 best performances, starting with “Risky Business” in 1983 all the way to now with “Top Gun: Maverick.” Entries are listed chronologically, with exceptions made for franchises. And with “Dead Reckoning Part One” heading to theaters this week, Cruise has a brand new chance to showcase his charisma and talent for pulling off death-defying stunts onscreen. He’s thrived and held his own alongside iconic movie stars in classics, from Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men” to Paul Newman in “The Color of Money,” and even in duds alongside the likes of Meryl Streep and Robert Redford (“Lions for Lambs,” anyone?).Īs we saw from the way he stood up against COVID rule-breakers on the set of “Mission: Impossible 7,” he cares about his collaborators and the work. He’s worked with smart directors - from Martin Scorsese to Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson and Stanley Kubrick - often chasing them down himself with a wicked idea or hopes for a collaboration. While some may say that Cruise’s sculpted movie star image lacks a certain vulnerability, many of the films below showcase his gifts for dramatic acting, proving him more than just a deft maneuverer of box office and death-defying stunts - though he is, of course, all those things.Ĭruise may in fact be the Last Movie Star in a time where such a nomenclature doesn’t really mean much anymore. He’s skillfully shepherded original movies as a star and producer, never falling into the trap of IP except, of course, with the franchises that are entirely his: “Top Gun,” “Mission: Impossible,” and “Jack Reacher.”Ī De-Aged Julia Roberts Could’ve Been Part of ‘Dead Reckoning,’ Says Christopher McQuarrie Going all the way back to the early 1980s, his appeal never seems to age, even at 61 years old. It was the shot in the arm that cinemas needed after the pandemic, and proof positive of Cruise’s enduring appeal as both a marquee movie star and skilled actor - two bona fides not always packaged together so successfully.Ĭruise has been leveraging looks and charm, and flexing his blockbuster muscles, for decades. In February, a clip went viral of Steven Spielberg telling Tom Cruise at an Oscars luncheon that he “saved Hollywood’s ass.” Spielberg was referring to the explosive success of Cruise’s return to the pilot seat in “ Top Gun: Maverick.” Released in May 2022, the long-awaited sequel was the top earner at the domestic box office last year, raking in over $700 million in the United States.
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