5 Most Underrated Tom Cruise Performances

In honor of Tom Cruise's 46th birthday (along with my own 18th), I decided to take this opportunity to write about this famous star and focus on the highlights of his career. At least, they should be highlights. Cruise might be remembered for films like Risky Buisness, Top Gun, Born on the Fourth of July, and Jerry Maguire, he also has delievered some worthy performances that went under the radar. Here is a shortlist of Tom Cruise performances that should have registered heavily than they ultimately did.

Vincent in Collateral

In probably the most underrated performance of his career, Cruise shines as a sliver clad assassin who takes an all-nighter ride with cabbie Max, played by Jamie Foxx. Foxx wound up with the Oscar nomination, but Cruise’s work is so refined and subtle here that I wish their places could have been traded. From the beginning to the end, Cruise makes Vincent a character to hate because of his deeds, to admire because of his resourcefulness, to fear because of his predatory skills, and ultimately pity because of his solitary ending. This was truly a highlight in his career that went unjustly unnoticed.

Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia

Some people might question the presence of this film on the list considering Cruise earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work. However, I think Paul Thomas Anderson’s meandering (and at times, laborious) multi-character study is so grand, that Cruise sometimes can get lost within the sea of numerous talented actors. Still, there is a reason that Cruise is a standout. His energetic self-help guru is full of that bouncy energy that has actually tainted some parts of Cruise’s career. However, he then comes to play off it, and lets it backfire on his character during the pivotal confrontation between his father, played by the late Jason Robards. He self-destructs in front of us, and it is a move that Cruise rarely does.

David Aames in Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe’s absorbing remake of the Spanish film Abre los Ojos is already a difficult thing to take in. However, despite the lukewarm reception, Cruise is actually the piece that makes it work. As the story spirals into all sorts of different paths, Cruise remains grounded in the center, casually swaying with each plot twist but never losing his footing and always making the unbelievable seem believable in his circumstances. He also presents a wide range of emotions that flutter in and out, adding to the theme of the reliability of reality. Crowe might have gotten Cruise nominated in Jerry Maguire, but he gave him much stronger material in this underrated film.

Sen. Jasper Irving in Lions for Lambs

Robert Redford’s gigantic flop about a social commentary on politics and war didn’t register much with people. However, those who missed it also missed Cruise in a defining role. From the start, his own casting is ironic (a Hollywood elite playing a Republican politician) and that tone sets us up for something Cruise has done little of: plain talking. Cruise makes the words of Irving believable; he sells the idea of presenting conservative values to a liberally biased world and fights like hell against it. He gives us a window of what might happen with all conservatives who fight this same battle, and even though the film ends with a perceived loss on his side, Cruise still shows that politicians will keep fighting, no matter what side of the fence their on.

Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man

It is true that everyone remembers this movie, but Cruise immediately takes a backseat to Dustin Hoffman, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 1988. And in all honesty, that’s the way it should be. Still, that doesn’t mean Cruise delivers a worthy performance in Hoffman’s shadow. Cruise is the audience’s view, since little was known about autism at the time. He represents all of our fears and frustration when encountering someone with this condition and then, after getting to know them, starts to see the actual person. His ending isn’t even a real happy one, but Cruise takes on a journey that we could not have done alone and allows us to grow with him.