In one of his earliest roles, Tom Cruise plays David Shawn. A hothead cadet at a military academy. The general of the academy announces that the board has decided to close the school, but that it will be open one more year. This allows the next group of seniors to graduate and the rest of the students can find new schools. After an altercation with some local teenagers, one of the cadets accidentally shoots one of them. This results in a chain of events that causes the cadets to take over the academy and demands that the school stay open. Things get more and more out of hand through the film, and Cruise’s character causes them far more problems than they had anticipated.
The cast is star-studded with Timothy Hutton and Sean Pean playing some of the most important cadets in the school, and George C. Scott and Ronny Cox playing military officers. Although it’s early in his career, you can easily see how Cruise will push his way to superstar status. Surrounded by such a high level of talent, I’m sure I’m helped him find a few things. Worth your time and one of the best Tom Cruise movies.
Published the same year as Risky business, this movie marks the first time Tom Cruise’s name appears above the title of the poster. Cruise plays Stefen, a high school senior who hopes his football career will help him get away from the small mill town he grew up in. Clashes with the football coach jeopardized that plan, and his relationship with his girlfriend threatens to keep him trapped in a life he does not want.
Cruise does a great job in the film, and his constant clash with the football coach played by Craig T. Nelson shows a good side to Cruise as an actor. He knows his life is being washed away, but he can not just stand and do nothing. Lea Thompson has talked about how she was going to make two nude scenes in the film, but Cruise got the producers to drop one of them and said he would make their scene together completely naked to do it fair. It seems like a stand-up thing to do early in his career. Easily one of the best Tom Cruise movies you have not seen. Solve it.
Many Tom Cruise fans may not know that this is actually a sequel to a 1961 Paul Newman movie called The hustler. Newman plays Fast Eddie. He meets Vincent (Cruise), who is one of the best pool players he has ever seen. Eddie takes him under his wings to show him that he must become a pool hustler. As Vincent becomes a master of the game, Eddie realizes that he is tired of living the scam lifestyle. His only reason to play pool now is to beat Vincent one on one.
Having Cruise and Newman together on screen is great. The two play magnificently apart. Scorsese behind the camera also hurts. One thing we always hear about is how dedicated Cruise becomes to her roles. It is said that he made all the trick pictures in the movie on his own, except one. Scorsese said Cruise could easily have learned that in a matter of days, but said it would have cost too much to shut down production, so they have a professional to take his place for shots.
Tom Cruise takes on the role of Frank TJ Mackey. He is really repulsive as he teaches rooms filled with men how to seduce women and controls the encounter with subliminal body language and other tricks. For Cruise, this is a very different character than he is used to playing. The film is an ensemble piece as we see two elderly men dying and trying to reconnect with their alienated adult children. Cruise gives a touching performance as he is confronted with his father’s death. He says he would not cry for him, but eventually he breaks down sobbing.
Cruise was hesitant to assume such a brave character, but Paul Thomas Anderson was able to get him on board. He was well on a rocket to the moon when he jumped into the movie. Have just done Impossible mission and Jerry Maguire a few years before. He was on the set and shot Kubrick’s Wide closed eyes when he looked Boogie nights. He called Anderson and said he would be in his next movie. It took a bit of persuasion, but he agreed and knocked it out of the park.
By this time, Cruise had almost one new movie on the way each year. This pace made him perhaps a little oversaturated to the general public. They seemed to turn away from this film, but that’s a shame. He plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg as he leads a conspiracy within the Nazi party to assassinate Adolf Hitler. It was based on a real incident during World War II.
Cruise plays a Nazi, which is not something you think would ever happen. He was fascinated by the role when he saw a picture of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and was amazed at how similar they looked. While the film grossed over $ 200 million worldwide, it did not appear to capture the United States. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the film and give it its right.
What are some of your favorite under-watched Tom Cruise movies? Tell us in the comments.