We all love to see Tom Cruise hanging off the top of skyscrapers, flying helicopters, stylishly maneuvering cars or motorcycles during a high-speed chase, or running like a madman. This list looks into films that brought out the 'actor' in him.
Paul Thomas Anderson's thematically rich and performance-heavy film boasts a plethora of actors at the top of their game, among which is Tom Cruise's "motivational speaker" who reveals himself to be a flawed, insecure, and trauma-burdened individual.
Oliver Stone's angry film saw Cruise as an enthusiastic young man who enlists in the Vietnam War, only to see his life shattered by an experience that leaves him physically impaired and psychologically scarred.
Michael Mann's crime masterpiece puts Cruise's cold, methodical hitman in the vehicle of a soft-hearted, ambitious cab driver who is forced to muster all the courage to thwart the former's nefarious plans after an unforeseen plot twist.
One of the best coming-of-age dramas of all time, Risky Business is a quintessential teen comedy that doesn't forget to be classy even when it evokes the naughty, adolescent phase of all men.
If someone hadn't told us that it was Cruise playing this extremely foul-mouthed, aggressive movie mogul, appropriately named Les Grossman, we probably wouldn't have known judging by the character's appearance alone.
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece — a heady concoction of dreams, nightmares, sex, infidelity, mysterious cults, and shady figures — gave us a version of Cruise that is strikingly different from the characters he did in his action movies.
Doug Liman's film based on real events and a real character — former pilot-turned-drug smuggler Barry Seal — saw Cruise pulling off, quite successfully, a comedic twist to what is essentially a dark story.
Yes, Dustin Hoffman overshadowed Cruise in an Academy Award-winning as an autistic savant; however, without the effective involvement of this character's brother, played by Cruise, the film would've felt grossly incomplete.