Operating on another level
| Average Metascore | 60 |
| Average User Score | 7.2 |
| Average Gross (U.S. only) | $96.4M |
Maverick, Cole Trickle, Lestat, Ethan Hunt, Jerry Maguire, Les Grossman -- these are just a few of the memorable characters that Tom Cruise has played over the years. The charismatic star is one of the brightest Hollywood has ever produced. His success in the ’80s and ’90s was nearly unparalleled, and while his cachet may have gone down a bit in the 2000s with his couch-jumping, thetan-espousing antics, he’s currently attempting to slip back into his action lead wheelhouse.
Cruise returns to the screen this week as a charming, unhinged, and mysterious secret agent Roy Miller alongside Cameron Diaz’ dazzled June Havens in action caper Knight and Day. After two disappointing lead performances in Lions for Lambs 47 and Valkyrie 56, Cruise is courting both the male (action) and female (romance) audiences with this attempt at recapturing his box-office star power. Advance buzz is light, but with such an anemic summer at the movies and the only real new competition being Grown Ups, the film could be a surprise hit for the two stars, who could really use one.
So, lets take a look back at Mr. Cruise’s highs and lows at the box office and with critics. We feel the need -- the need for Cruise!
| Year | Title | Metascore | Users | Opening Weekend / Domestic Gross * | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Taps ** | n/a | n/a | ** / $97.5M |   |
| 1983 | The Outsiders | 38 | 7.3 | 12.8 / 64.9 | |
| 1983 | Losin' It | 51 | n/a | 1.1 / 3.1 | |
| 1983 | Risky Business | 75 | 6.5 | 10.8 / 160.4 | |
| 1983 | All the Right Moves ** | 62 | 10.0 | ** / 43.5 | |
| 1985 | Legend | n/a | n/a | 9.1 / 33.2 | |
| 1986 | Top Gun | n/a | n/a | 17.6 / 378.8 | |
| 1986 | The Color of Money | n/a | n/a | 13.6 / 112.1 | |
| 1988 | Cocktail | 12 | 4.9 | 22.8 / 151.3 | |
| 1988 | Rain Man | 65 | 7.7 | 13.6 / 344.2 | |
| 1989 | Born on the Fourth of July ** | 75 | 10.0 | ** / 131.6 | |
| 1990 | Days of Thunder | 60 | 7.5 | 29.1 / 155.4 | |
| 1992 | Far and Away | 49 | 6.2 | 19.5 / 112.8 | |
| 1992 | A Few Good Men | 62 | 6.7 | 29.7 / 271.1 | |
| 1993 | The Firm | 58 | 7.0 | 48.8 / 304.1 | |
| 1994 | Interview with the Vampire | 59 | 8.3 | 69.2 / 199.8 | |
| 1996 | Mission: Impossible | 60 | 6.8 | 81.7 / 325.5 | |
| 1996 | Jerry Maguire | 77 | 8.6 | 30.7 / 269.7 | |
| 1999 | Eyes Wide Shut | 68 | 8.6 | 34.0 / 87.2 | |
| 1999 | Magnolia ** | 77 | 7.5 | ** / 33.2 | |
| 2000 | Mission: Impossible 2 | 60 | 6.0 | 85.3 / 317.7 | |
| 2001 | Vanilla Sky | 45 | 7.3 | 35.1 / 139.7 | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | 80 | 7.4 | 48.8 / 180.7 | |
| 2003 | The Last Samurai | 55 | 7.2 | 32.0 / 144.8 | |
| 2004 | Collateral | 71 | 7.5 | 31.6 / 129.3 | |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds | 73 | 6.3 | 80.5 / 290.6 | |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | 66 | 6.7 | 57.9 / 162.7 | |
| 2007 | Lions for Lambs | 47 | 4.9 | 7.7 / 17.3 | |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | 56 | 5.7 | 23.3 / 92.0 | |
| 2010 | Knight and Day | Opens June 23, 2010 | |||
| Movie | Year | Netflix | Metascore | Users | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minority Report | 2002 | 80 | 7.4 | |
| "Cruise will never be a master thespian, but there's no one better at putting across the charisma of control, and the opening sequence of 'Report' is an astonishingly fluid demonstration of his gifts." -- Jay Carr, Boston Globe |
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| The most popular star in the world at the time first teamed with most popular director in the world at the time, Steven Spielberg, in this Philip K. Dick-inspired science-fiction mystery. His portrayal of framed Chief John Anderton was simultaneously intense and emotional, two words that fit Cruise to a T. |  |
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| Budget: | $102M | U.S. Gross: | $132M | ||
| 2 | Jerry Maguire | 1996 | 77 | 8.6 | |
| "The engine that drives Jerry Maguire is Cruise, giving the kind of performance that all but deconstructs his recent series of glib leading-man roles." -- John Hartl, Film.com |
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| Cruise had us at hello with what could go down as the best role of his career. The Cameron Crowe-penned sports agent who has his world turned upside down after having an epiphany and losing his job allowed Cruise to flex his acting muscles and show us a vulnerability that we had rarely seen until then. He earned his second Oscar nomination for the performance. |  |
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| Budget: | $50M | U.S. Gross: | $154M | ||
| 3 | Magnolia | 1999 | 77 | 7.5 | |
| "The best Tom Cruise performance I've ever seen." -- Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader |
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| Paul Thomas Anderson’s polarizing character study featured a show-stopping performance by Cruise as relationship advice infomercial maven Frank T.J. Mackey. His charisma and charm are smokescreens for the audience that make his emotional explosion at the end of the film all that more powerful. Always career-savvy, Cruise capped the ’90s with this film and Eyes Wide Shut; two atypical films that appealed to a more intellectual crowd. He earned his most recent Oscar nomination (in a supporting role) for his work. |  |
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| Budget: | $37M | U.S. Gross: | $22M | ||
| 4 | Risky Business | 1983 | 75 | 6.5 | |
| "Mr. Cruise makes Joel's transformation from straight arrow to entrepreneur about as credible as it can be made." -- Janet Maslin, The New York Times |
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| The movie that made Tom Cruise a star was this slick examination of teenage boy fantasy. Cruise played Joel, a suburban teen who meets a hooker and her pimp and has his life changed forever. The shades-wearing dude sliding into frame in his boxers is an iconic image that Cruise still can’t shake. |  |
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| Budget: | $6M | U.S. Gross: | $64M | ||
| 5 | Born on the Fourth of July | 1989 | 75 | 10.0 | |
| "For all its flaws, Born on the Fourth of July provides the final proof that Tom Cruise is the real thing -- a movie star with all the natural, unforced ability to connect with an audience that the title implies." -- Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune |
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Playing Vietnam vet Ron Kovic wasn’t the first time Cruise had stretched his legs dramatically. His underrated performance as Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man the year before was only a hint at his versatility. His heartbreaking portrayal of an idealistic soldier turned wheelchair-bound antiwar activist earned Cruise his first of three Oscar nominations. |
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| Budget: | $14M | U.S. Gross: | $70M | ||
| Movie | Year | Netflix | Metascore | Users | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cocktail | 1988 | 12 | 4.9 | |
| "Cruise is walking in the footsteps of Troy Donahue and John Travolta here. He does what comes easy. He bumps and grinds and grins till his lips ache. It's a performance with all the integrity of wax fruit." -- Rita Kempley, Washington Post |
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| "When he pours, he reigns"? Not quite. This cautionary tale of excess in the big city seen through the eyes of Cruise’s tricky bartender Brian Flanagan was his biggest blunder at the time, and hasn’t aged well at all. The film is mostly known for The Beach Boys song “Kokomo” that’s featured on the soundtrack. |  |
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| Budget: | $6M | U.S. Gross: | $78M | ||
| 2 | The Outsiders | 1983 | 38 | 7.3 | |
| "Like the greasers, The Outsiders often seems to be busily, handsomely going nowhere." -- Richard Corliss, Time |
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| To be fair, Cruise is only one part of a large ensemble (Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane) of then soon-to-be movie stars. His hyperactive portrayal of Steve Randle isn’t particularly nuanced, but watching him running around playing grab-ass is fun, considering he would slide to the lead of the pack later in the year with the release of Risky Business. |  |
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| Budget: | $10M | U.S. Gross: | $26M | ||
| 3 | Vanilla Sky | 2001 | 45 | 7.3 | |
| "The film's aim -- to dazzle and inspire -- is sapped by Cruise's vein-popping, running-the-marathon performance." -- Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle |
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| Cruise re-teamed with Jerry Maguire director Crowe in a poorly conceived and executed remake of the 1997 Spanish film Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes). The overly ambitious (and convoluted) science-fiction premise required Cruise’s face to be deformed and obscured through a large portion of the film. |  |
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| Budget: | $68M | U.S. Gross: | $101M | ||
| 4 | Lions for Lambs | 2007 | 47 | 4.9 | |
| "The one scorching performance here, cheerfully laying waste to the niggles of the peacemakers, is that of Tom Cruise, who does for Republican warmongering what he did for the rampant libido in 'Magnolia.'." -- Anthony Lane, The New Yorker |
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| The Robert Redford-directed think piece starred Cruise as a U.S. Senator giving an interview to a journalist (played by Meryl Streep) about a new war strategy in Afghanistan. An overly earnest effort that didn’t appeal to audiences weary of reality resulted in one of Cruise’s least-seen performances. |  |
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| Budget: | $35M | U.S. Gross: | $15M | ||
| 5 | Far and Away | 1992 | 49 | 6.2 | |
| "Cruise has no edge, no inner fire. He lacks the passionate, volatile qualities that might have expanded the character into something more than a screenwriter's concoction. ... Machine-tooled and weightless — that's Cruise in Far and Away. And that's the movie as well." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly |
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| Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman followed up racecar drama Days of Thunder with this visually beautiful but catastrophically dull tale of Irish immigrants in late 1800s America. Cruise’s bad luck with accents (his German officer in Valkyrie had no accent at all) begins here. The film is almost more known on the technical side, as it’s one of the last films to be shot in 70 mm. |  |
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| Budget: | $60M | U.S. Gross: | $59M | ||
What do you think?
Which Tom Cruise films are your favorites -- or least favorites? Are you looking forward to Knight and Day? Let us know in the comments section below.
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