Is Tom Cruise finished?

[sal]

One shouldn't confuse "success" with worth... "The Monkees" comes to mind. Just cause Cruise has made a boatload of money on a boatload of pictures doesn't mean he's worth watching. There are people who love him, some who loathe him and some like me who just find him annoying and a curiousity at most. I wonder if he'd give one "Top Gun" and "Cocktail" and all the rest of that dreck for one decent Oscar winning role? All due respect but to mention him in the same sentence with Bogart is blasphemy. Cruise coudln't carry Bogarts soiled undies. Sorry just no comparison.

Worf

Agree. Can't compare Cruise and Bogart. Not even close

 

[Doublegun]

And Bogie was better at water sports.....

[/QUOTE

He has a big head - literally. I mean, he could be a bobble-head.

 

[tonyb]

...
He has a big head - literally. I mean, he could be a bobble-head.

Not to mention his feet!

 

[Futwick]

His worst movie was "The Last Samurai." That was godawful insulting and horrible.

 

[Stearmen]

I have to stick up for Tom here! As some one who missed being 6 feet tall by 1-1/2 lousy inches, I like to see any one under 6 make it on the big or little screen!

 

[ButteMT61]

I have to stick up for Tom here! As some one who missed being 6 feet tall by 1-1/2 lousy inches, I like to see any one under 6 make it on the big or little screen!

Most Hollywood guys are under 6'. Many well under. I'd like to see more big guys myself! Tom is what he is. Almost any movie he did was better than the new Gatsby.

 

[Jack Patch]

The first time I saw Tom was doing the Risky Business dance. Been pretty much down hill from there. I have never been a fan of the man so I should mention that, but if I have to see one more advertisement for one of his movies I'm gonna be ill.

 

[Sloan1874]

Most Hollywood guys are under 6'. Many well under. I'd like to see more big guys myself! Tom is what he is. Almost any movie he did was better than the new Gatsby.

There's a funny scene in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, where Steven Dorf, who plays an jaded actor, has to stand on a strategically-placed soap box for publicity shots with his leading lady. Nobody blinks an eye or remarks on it...

 

[Tomasso]

actor, has to stand on a strategically-placed soap box for publicity shots with his leading lady. Nobody blinks an eye or remarks on it...

Hollywood has a history of height challenged leading men and has developed various techniques to deal with it, including..........

 

[Sloan1874]

Blimey, you'd be hard-pressed to find taller platform boots outside of the early 70s!

 

[DJH]

Blimey, you'd be hard-pressed to find taller platform boots outside of the early 70s!

Hey, I got married in the 70's in platforms that high - had the orange Bowie hair too!

Hmm, maybe that's why not a single photo seems to have survived.

 

[Sloan1874]

lollol

 

[tonyb]

Hey, I got married in the 70's in platforms that high - had the orange Bowie hair too!

Hmm, maybe that's why not a single photo seems to have survived.

You had to go and remind me of how we all look in the pictures from my brother's first wedding, in 1973, I think it was, or maybe '74. Hideous. Just awful. Beyond bad. Wretched. An affront to all that is good and right with the world.

I once had a mantra that went something like "good design is good design, no matter the prevailing stylistic conventions of its time." You know, some three-bedroom ramblers are quite nice, while others aren't. Or, wide lapels and double-pleated pants alone don't make a good-lookin' suit, just as narrow lapels and flat fronts don't necessarily make a bad-lookin' one.

But then I'm reminded of 1973. Shudders.

 

[alsendk]

I have seen Tom Cruise acting in many fine movies, but the Last samauri was NOT one of them, and to see him jump up and down in mrs.O. Winfreys sofa was slightly embarrassing.

 

[Capesofwrath]

Hollywood has a history of height challenged leading men and has developed various techniques to deal with it, including..........

I think Alan Ladd usually stood on a box, and in one memorable scene where they couldn't do that they dug a pit for the leading lady to stand in.

 

[Edward]

One shouldn't confuse "success" with worth... "The Monkees" comes to mind.

Oh, now that's fightin' talk.... As a tv show, The Monkees is unbeatable. Sly, anarchic humour as fresh and creative today as when it was filmed. Something about the mix of scripting and improvisation the boys brought to it was just perfect. If only half the shows that are made to day had an ounce of that creativity, we'd be better off. As a band, they produced pure gold. I'd take most Monkees hits (whether written by others, as early on, as by themselves, as later - I draw no distinction. To criticise their performances because they didn't write some of their best stuff would be like saying Sinatra was a rubbish singer...) over most Beatles hits. Nothing the scousers wrote - NOTHING - is better than Daydream Believer. At least 50% of the Beatles recorded material is now painfully dated.... and some of it unlistenably pretentious. Not so the Monkees.

I believe he did!

I've never enjoyed Tom's action roles but find him very impressive playing less than *heroic (or downright dislikable) characters. A few roles I've enjoyed from Cruise in no particular order are-
Magnolia, Tropic Thunder, Interview with the Vampire, Vanilla Sky, Rain Man. The guy plays a b@stard like no one else!

*I really enjoyed Born on the 4th of July. This is the only "hero" performance I've enjoyed from Cruise.

Apparently Cruise is still a money-making machine. Personally I'd like to see him do more dramatic roles.

To answer the op, I don't think Cruise is finished as an A list actor.

If he's done as an A-list actor, he'll make better films. The thing about Hollywood at that top, mainstream level is that they don't hire stars to act, they hire them to be stars. Cruise, as with so many others, is hired to play the Tom Cruise: Movie Star persona. That's the real root of the problem. I find it hard to watch him most of the time, because that's what I see.... that and Top Gun is quite possibly the most offensive film I've ever seen. However, when he is actually afforded the freedom to act, such as in Tropic Thunder, Interview with the Vampire, or Valkyrie, I find him to be good. Not as good as Pitt or Depp (Depp being one of the very few big names who has been fortunate enough to always be allowed to act), but much better than is generally considered hip to accept.

I have seen Tom Cruise acting in many fine movies, but the Last samauri was NOT one of them, and to see him jump up and down in mrs.O. Winfreys sofa was slightly embarrassing.

The sofa moment was certainly a mistake. Mind you, so was the marriage, it seems. Anyhow. There are a lot of things about Cruise for which I do not care. He certainly can be a self-important ass. On the flipside, I have read many accounts of how good he can be to work with - always remembers people, cares enough to keep track of supporting crew such as make-up and wardrobe, ask how they're getting on, call them by name, and for all the stick he receives for his adherence to Scientology, he seems to be very good about not pushing it on people with whom he works (a lot of adherents to other religious paths could learn much from him on that score). Another thing is that when he appears at premieres in London, he is known to spend a good few hours outside, wandering around, signing things for fans and posing for photos. In a world where so many performers have so little respect for those who ultimately put and keep them where they are (Van Morrison <spits> being the very worst example I have ever personally witnessed), that has to be respected.

 

[John in Covina]

He entertains me and he does it well in a number of movies. i don't care about the 6'5" Reacher, haven't read the books. Lloyd Nolan was Mike Shane in film but not the Mike Shane in the books. It happens.

Cruise is not my best bud but he has some good acting chops that come out with the right film. Lest we forget there are a number of actos that only play one charector like Gene Hackman or Clint Eastwood or John Wayne. In a film built around the right charector they shine wrong and it sucks. Tom is a tad more versitile.

 

[Sloan1874]

Oh, now that's fightin' talk.... As a tv show, The Monkees is unbeatable. [quote/]

Completely with you on the Monkees. Much as I love the Fabs, a decent Monkees hits CD has the capacity to surprise and delight in a way that over-familiarity The Beatles back catalogue can't: Porpoise Song, (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone, Randy Scouse Git etc etc. They may not have been the great creative leap, but they were one of the best pop bands of the period. Period.

If he's done as an A-list actor, he'll make better films.[quote/]
I think Matthew McConaughey falls into this category. He disappeared for a while, came back - his hair-line restored - not quite the leading man he was, and has started to make great films: Magic Mike, Mud, Bernie, Lincoln Lawyer and Killer Joe have all got critical plaudits.

I was always led to believe that the sofa moment and some of his odder outbursts were down to Scientology's dislike of medication for psychiatric conditions... I'm not sure about Cruise not promoting his faith though, as I seem to remember him insisting on having a Scientology caravan on the set of one film. But I think his presence always makes a film interesting - I thought he was great in War of the Worlds and Tropic of Thunder - especially when he's not bigger than the film itself ie Mission Impossible.
As far as Van goes. three, maybe four, albums and that's it. All of the a long time ago. Never has one man whined about so little for so long and yet received so much from the very things he claims to have been abused by. [huh]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

If he's done as an A-list actor, he'll make better films. The thing about Hollywood at that top, mainstream level is that they don't hire stars to act, they hire them to be stars. Cruise, as with so many others, is hired to play the Tom Cruise: Movie Star persona. That's the real root of the problem. I find it hard to watch him most of the time, because that's what I see.... that and Top Gun is quite possibly the most offensive film I've ever seen. However, when he is actually afforded the freedom to act, such as in Tropic Thunder, Interview with the Vampire, or Valkyrie, I find him to be good. Not as good as Pitt or Depp (Depp being one of the very few big names who has been fortunate enough to always be allowed to act), but much better than is generally considered hip to accept.



The sofa moment was certainly a mistake. Mind you, so was the marriage, it seems. Anyhow. There are a lot of things about Cruise for which I do not care. He certainly can be a self-important ass. On the flipside, I have read many accounts of how good he can be to work with - always remembers people, cares enough to keep track of supporting crew such as make-up and wardrobe, ask how they're getting on, call them by name, and for all the stick he receives for his adherence to Scientology, he seems to be very good about not pushing it on people with whom he works (a lot of adherents to other religious paths could learn much from him on that score).

In "Tropic Thunder" I think he was channeling his "Intergalactic Leader," David Miscavige, whose known for his violent temper and equally violent beatings of his staff members.

Warning: Viewer Discretion is Advised
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLcNgawiCJM

 

[Blackthorn]

One can only hope.

My very thought.