Just looked at Tom Cruise's IMDB page and..

[zerocool84]

Ok, but ask yourself this... Are they good BECAUSE of Tom Cruise, or are they just good movies he gets the parts for (and somebody else could have done just as well if not better)?

Then you could say the same thing about any actor. It's the fact that he does it consistently so it's obviously not a fluke.

 

[dighn]

Then you could say the same thing about any actor. It's the fact that he does it consistently so it's obviously not a fluke.

high thetan levels from years of training

 

[BUTCH1]

Ok, but ask yourself this... Are they good BECAUSE of Tom Cruise, or are they just good movies he gets the parts for (and somebody else could have done just as well if not better)?

I don't think that's the case, take "Oblivion" for example, the plot sinks in slowly and it winds up being a good watch but in the meantime Cruise absolutely carries that film. Yea, Morgan Freeman is in it but in a very small role.

 

[nurturedhate]

Last Samurai is a great movie though Ken Watanabe makes so.

 

[John Connor]

Collateral and MI Ghost protocol were good.

 

[smackababy]

Ok, but ask yourself this... Are they good BECAUSE of Tom Cruise, or are they just good movies he gets the parts for (and somebody else could have done just as well if not better)?

There are movies where Tom Cruise carries them, but most of his movies he is just good enough for. And, that is what makes his career not end up in the shitter. Him or his agent only pick roles he can play in movies that aren't terrible, except for War of the Worlds.

I don't mind Tom Cruise.

 

[Kelvrick]

Jack Reacher was silly dumb. Can't believe Werner Herzog had an acting role in that movie.

I enjoyed all the deep breathing Rosamund Pike did in that movie.

 

[Blanky]

He is in a lot of good movies even if he is a dink.

 

[mikeymikec]

Completely agree, he is a great actor.

A great actor, compared to whom?

I have seen more terrible actors than Tom Cruise, but if you're going to call Tom Cruise a great actor, then a tonne of soap stars deserve oscars.

An example of Tom Cruise's "great acting", check out his impression of drunkenness in "A Few Great Men". I don't know about you, but I've never seen a drunk person act that way. I can't think of any human state that looks like that either.

 

[KeithTalent]

Tom Cruise is awesome.

KT

 

[SP33Demon]

Look, they don't pay him millions because he's short. He's a solid actor despite all the critics and his wacky beliefs, but you could say that about other good actors like Sean Penn.

 

[SunnyD]

He's an okay actor, but honestly he doesn't have very much depth. He seems to be very typecast these days.

 

[TwiceOver]

As long as you don't need him to really act, he's fine.

 

[Kushina]

You could literally copy and paste him from one movie to another. If you smashed his face with a hammer it would have no effect on the movie. It would probably be slightly better. Same with Brad Pitt.

He's slightly better than Megan Fox. That's about it but that's only because he has two more expressions than her.

 

[mikeymikec]

You could literally copy and paste him from one movie to another. If you smashed his face with a hammer it would have no effect on the movie.

That's not necessarily true. If you smashed his face with a hammer, you might luckily end up with a match for one of his five "acting expressions". Then you know whether his character is meant to be happy/sad/angry/drunk/serious.

 

[Kushina]

 

[zerocool84]

You could literally copy and paste him from one movie to another. If you smashed his face with a hammer it would have no effect on the movie. It would probably be slightly better. Same with Brad Pitt.

He's slightly better than Megan Fox. That's about it but that's only because he has two more expressions than her.

Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors ever, plays basically the same role in every movie. How many actors have a ton of range?

 

[KeithTalent]

Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors ever, plays basically the same role in every movie. How many actors have a ton of range?

Exactly. Most superstar actors are like this, it's the character actors who tend to be chameleons.

KT

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Tropic Thunder is the pinnacle of Tom Cruises acting skills. AA++

On a serious note: He is a very good actor, but all his action roles are nearly the exact same character put into different dilemmas. If I watch a Tom Cruise movie, I know I am watching Tom Cruise in a movie... unlike some other actors who are able to convince me that they are someone else.

For examples:
Viggo Mortenson in A History of Violence.
Jaoquin Pheonix in The Master and Walk The Line vs. Her - very diverse characters.
Ill even put Brad Pitt and Matthew McConaughy in a higher tier than cruise.


EDIT: oop, Kushina already said this. Although I disagree with Brad Pitt. 'Whats in the boooox?!"

 

[Paratus]

And now the Top Gun theory of Tom Cruise movies. Every Crusie movie is basically a version of Top Gun where Tom is the best at whatever he does.

Gotta give it to him, there's not much to be critical about.

2014 Edge of Tomorrow - GREAT
Cage Haven't seen this yet but possibly Top Groundhog
2013/I Oblivion - Pretty good
Jack Top Clone
2012 Jack Reacher - Good
Reacher Top Military Police Investigator
2012 Rock of Ages - Wasn't my cup of tea
Stacee Jaxx Top Rock Star
2011 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - Pretty good
Ethan Hunt Top Spy 4
2010 Knight and Day - Nah
Roy Miller Didn't see this one
2008 Valkyrie - Good
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg Top Nazi Traitor
2008 Tropic Thunder - Small part, but he owned the part.
Les Grossman - Grossman's Office Top Movie Producer
2007 Lions for Lambs - Very good, under-rated.
Senator Jasper Irvinghavent seen this one
2006 Mission: Impossible III - ..better than #2
Ethan HuntTop Spy 3
2005 War of the Worlds - Pretty good
Ray Ferrier Top Divorced Dad
2004 Collateral - GREAT
Vincent Didn't see this one
2003 The Last Samurai - Very good
Nathan Algren Top Samurai
2002 Minority Report - GREAT
Chief John Anderton Top Detective
2001 Vanilla Sky - Weird, but good
David Aames Didn't see this one
2000 Mission: Impossible II - Horrible, just horrible
Ethan Hunt Top Spy 2
1999 Magnolia - Interesting movie
Frank T.J. Mackey Didn't see this one
1999 Eyes Wide Shut - Very good IMO
Dr. William Harford not sure about this one possibly the exception that defines the rule
1996 Jerry Maguire - Good
Jerry Maguire Top Sports Agent
1996 Mission: Impossible - Very good
Ethan Hunt Top Spy 1
1994 Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles - Good
Lestat de Lioncourt Top Vampire
1993 The Firm - Pretty good
Mitch McDeere Top Lawyer 2
1992 A Few Good Men - GREAT
Lt. Daniel Kaffee Top Lawyer 1
1992 Far and Away - Never saw it
Joseph Donnelly Top Irish Potatoe Farmer
1990 Days of Thunder - Good
Cole Trickle Top Race Car Driver
1989 Born on the Fourth of July - Very good
Ron Kovic Top Vet
1988 Rain Man - Very good
Charlie Babbitt Top Hustler
1988 Cocktail - Good
Brian Flanagan Top Bartender
1986 The Color of Money - GREAT
Vincent Lauria Top Pool Shark
1986 Top Gun - GREAT
Maverick Top Gun of course
1985 Legend - Good
Jack Top Warrior (D&D)
1983 All the Right Moves - Good
Stefen Djordjevic didn't see this one
1983 Risky Business - Good
Joel Goodsen Top Pimp
1983 Losin' It - Good, funny
Woody Didn't see this one.

Guess I have more I need to watch to see if the theory holds.

.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

And now the Top Gun theory of Tom Cruise movies. Every Crusie movie is basically a version of Top Gun where Tom is the best at whatever he does.


Guess I have more I need to watch to see if the theory holds.

.

LOL, this is a solid assessment.

 

[Strk]

Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors ever, plays basically the same role in every movie. How many actors have a ton of range?

I think Johnny Depp until Pirates had a pretty good range. Now he just plays Jack Sparrow in every role.

 

[Leyawiin]

The early ones where he was a supporting actor were good - Taps and The Outsiders. War of the Worlds was great - one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies of the last ten years. I wasn't expecting much from a remake, but he did a good job (damn screaming brat was the only thing that spoiled it).

 

[mikeymikec]

Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors ever, plays basically the same role in every movie. How many actors have a ton of range?

Not many. I can't say I've seen a huge amount of films with De Niro in (15) so I can't challenge your point about him, but De Niro at his worst isn't far off from Cruise at his best IMO, however even if De Niro phones home a performance, I'm not left wondering "what is this person trying to portray here?". The scene I described from "A Few Good Men" has two clues for what Cruise is trying to portray:

1 - Demi Moore's character comes in and asks him if he's drunk.
2 - There's a whisky bottle on the table.

I'm not sure De Niro is a great actor for the point you've made already, you haven't seen him in a role that's completely different from his usual character portrayal. Unless someone provides an example of him doing so, I'm inclined to put him in the same pigeon hole as Sean Connery. They can do similar types of characters in a convincing way (so they can do their jobs competently), and sometimes particularly well, but they don't go out of their comfort zone. If an actor stays within their comfort zone, they tend to get lazy and lose their skill, IMO.

I think Johnny Depp until Pirates had a pretty good range. Now he just plays Jack Sparrow in every role.

Yep, I was a Johnny Depp fan.

---

Some other people say that all Tom Cruise does is "Top Gun" - I disagree to some extent, I think he has improved a little with age. One of the problems with acting skill IMO is that once it's a career for you (especially from an early age), then what life experiences are you drawing on for your performances? Some of the best actors have a fucked up past. Very few successful actors really try to challenge themselves with different portrayals.

IMO Daniel Radcliffe isn't an amazing actor (and some of his performances in the HP movies positively stunk), but he's now one of the few who throws himself in to many varying roles, instead of (IMO) becoming obsessed with celebrity and personal image/ego, I admire him for that and I'll keep an eye on him in future.

 

[Kushina]

Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors ever, plays basically the same role in every movie. How many actors have a ton of range?

You are right but Robert DeNiro is a good actor. Tom Cruise is an idiot. He's always surrounded by idiots who can't think more than one thought per minute and he gets to be a special snowflake who thinks 1.5 thoughts per minute. And he/his character is so amazed by that fact that is jaw is always dropped to the floor in every scene where his face is shown.

Everytime I see him I want to punch him in the face. He's a more annoying version of Justin Bieber. Yet somehow gayer.