“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” is one of Tom Cruise’s highest rated movies ever with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. And yet, it’s not even close to being his best film, let alone his best performance.
Here’s what I wrote a couple of weeks ago:
Cruise, 61, and one of the last remaining old school movie stars, is still performing dangerous stunts, such as he does in ‘Dead Reckoning Part One.’
Meanwhile, Cruise continues to bury his talents as a dramatic actor. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, many tend to forget just how great of an actor Cruise actually is. You can’t watch a film like “Born on the Fourth of July” without noticing that acting chops.
Yes, he seems to have an affinity for all of these ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies, but, as thrilling as those films may be, Cruise built his career as a dramatic actor first and as an action star second.
His most recent non-IP performance was in Doug Liman’s very-watchable drug kingpin saga “American Made,” released in 2017. Cruise was absolute aces in that movie, using charisma, charm and humor to incarnate Barry Seal, a TWA pilot recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance in Central America.
He should have gotten Oscar nominated for “Collateral” and the his comedic genius turn in “Tropic Thunder”. He also should have WON for the best performance of his career in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia.”
It's as Frank T.J. Mackey in “Magnolia”, the slick televangelist-preaching male chauvanist, that Cruise scored the most important cinematic triumph of his career. Exhibiting a melange of uptight fastidiousness with ADD-like cocksure confidence, this was the chance for Cruise to finally be liberated artistically and not think at all about his image.
The sheer risk-taking involved in Cruise delivering that performance still feels damn-near cathartic for the audience, even 24 years since the film’s release. The actor has never taken more risks as an actor than in “Magnolia.”
I’d rank my personal ten best Cruise performances as follows — 1) Magnolia 2) Collateral 3) Born on the Fourth of July 4) Risky Business 5) Rain Man 6) Eyes Wide Shut 7) Minority Report 8) Tropic Thunder 9) A Few Good Men 10) Edge of Tomorrow
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.