10 Tom Cruise Movies Everyone Should See

With Tom Cruise's latest film having just come out recently (You can check out my review of that here: 'The Mummy' 2017) it seemed like a good time to add a new entry to my '10 Movies Everyone Should See' series. I have previously written similar posts about Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Alfred Hitchcock, and others and I'll leave links to those at the bottom of this one. If you're not familiar with how I make these lists, they aren't necessarily a 'Best Of' or 'Top 10', It's merely 10 films that I feel would be the best representation of someone's total career.


#10 Knight and Day (2010)

'Knight and Day' isn't a fantastic movie, in fact parts of it are kinda dumb. However, I think the goal the filmmakers were shooting for was to make a fun, action-filled, romp with a couple bankable movie stars. That is exactly what they achieved.

#9 The Last Samurai (2003)

If you like war movies then this one has some pretty good battle scenes between those who still practice the ways of the ancient Samurai and a Japanese military that is trying to adapt to the type of weaponry the U.S. was using at the time. I thinks it's also one of Tom's more complex performances.

#8 Risky Business (1983)

The oldest movie to make this list, 'Risky Business' was a breakout film for Cruise and it's still a pretty entertaining watch.

#7 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

You won't find many sequels on Tom Cruise's filmography but, the 'Mission: Impossible' series has been going strong since '96 and this one is certainly in the discussion for best 'Mission: Impossible' film.

#6 Far and Away (1992)

The plot is a little thin and Tom's attempt at an Irish accent is a bit dodgy but, it's directed by Ron Howard, there's some really good cinematography, a solid John Williams score, and great chemistry between the two leads.

#5 Days of Thunder (1990)

If you've ever seen Top Gun and thought "I'd like to see a version of this, but with race cars instead of fighter jets" then you'll probably enjoy Days of Thunder.

#4 Rain Man (1988)

Even though most people associate Cruise with action movies, he is capable of putting in solid performances in critically acclaimed films as well. The best example of this is the multi-Oscar winning film 'Rain Man' (winner of the 1989 Oscars for Best Picture, best Screenplay, Best Leading Actor: Dustin Hoffman, and Best Director: Barry Levinson).

#3 Mission: Impossible (1996)

The first film in the 'Mission Impossible' franchise may not have as much over the top action as some of the later entries in the series but, its still a really enjoyable flick.

#2 Top Gun (1986)

If I were just ranking film quality, then 'Top Gun' wouldn't have landed as high as #2. However, it is one of Tom Cruise's most iconic roles. Yes, parts of it are dumb and cheesy but it's also just an overall fun movie.

#1 Minority Report (2002)

It was a bit of a close call on some of these and there were a few films that I went back and forth on. That was not the case with the #1 spot. I think this one is hands down the best film starring Cruise.


Honorable Mentions: A Few Good Men (1992), Jerry Maguire (1996), Jack Reacher (2012), and Edge of Tomorrow (2014)


 If you have a suggestion for another "10 Movies Everyone Should See" leave it in the comments below.

Also, check out these other entries:
 10 Sean Connery Movies Everyone Should See
10 James Stewart Movies Everyone Should See
10 Alfred Hitchcock Movies Everyone Should See
10 John Travolta Movies Everyone Should See
10 Tom Hanks Movies Everyone Should See
10 Chuck Norris Movies Everyone Should See 
10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies Everyone Should See

Today's Movie: A League of Their Own

"There's no crying in baseball!"

Though not my favorite baseball movie, 1992's A League of Their Own is both fun and entertaining. It was also one that I debated placing on my "10 Tom Hanks Movies Everyone Should See" list (which you can check out by clicking here), but ultimately there were just too many movies that I didn't want to leave off.

The film is about a women's baseball league that is started up while many MLB players were fighting in WWII. The two main players the film focuses on are a pair of sisters from Oregon, a catcher named Dottie Hinson (played by Geena Davis) and a pitcher named Kit Keller (played by Lori Petty). They are recruited to the league by scout that is played by Jon Lovitz, and though he's only in the film for a short time, he provides a couple good laughs. They play ball for the 'Rockford Peaches' and are joined by woman from across the country played by Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Anne Ramsay, Megan Cavanagh, Tracy Reiner, Bitty Schram, and others. Their manager Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) is a drunk, ex-MLB player, with a bad knee, and who doesn't initially even think the women should even be considered real baseball players, but he comes around in the end.There's a decent amount of comedy sprinkled throughout, and the chemistry among the cast works well enough that you buy into them being a team.

As the season goes along tension builds between the two sisters because, due to her baseball skill and good looks, Dottie becomes the star of the league and Kit is constantly frustrated being in her shadow. Eventually, Kit is traded and both the 'Peaches' and her new team the 'Racine Belles' meet in the world series. This is Kit's time to shine and in game 7 she scores the winning run, allowing herself to finally feel like more than just Dottie's kid sister.

Overall, though not great, I think it's a pretty good movie.
I give it 3 out of 5.


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Today's Movie: Days of Thunder

 

 

Days of Thunder is a 1990 sports movie with Tom Cruise playing Cole Trickle, a somewhat reckless, and too competitive for his own good, NASCAR driver. If you've ever seen Top Gun and thought "I'd like to see a version of this, but with race cars instead of fighter jets" then you'll probably enjoy Days of Thunder. 

In the film Cole is a young racer who's experience has primarily been in open-wheel racing and, after having a bit of success with that, he wants to make the transition to stock-cars. So, he's recruited by Tim Daland (played by Randy Quaid) to race for his team, and former crew chief/car builder Harry Hogge (played by Robert Duvall) even comes out of retirement to lead the pit crew. Early on a rivalry begins to brew between Cole and NASCAR veteran Rowdy Burns (played by Michael Rooker). The two crash and bang race after race, until one day there is a major accident and both men are hospitalized. Even while recovering, the two are bitter rivals; they race wheelchairs in the hospital and destroy some rental cars while on they way to a dinner with a racing executive. It's also around this time that Cole ends up in a romantic relationship with a neurosurgeon from the hospital named Dr. Claire Lewicki (played by Nicole Kidman). Cole ends up recovering from his injuries just fine but Rowdy, on the other hand, has to undergo brain surgery and he asks Cole to race the Daytona 500 in his place. Of course Cole wins at Daytona for a nice, happy ending.

 This isn't Tom Cruise's best movie and I wouldn't even call it a great film overall but, if you don't take it too seriously and just accept it as dumb-fun, then you'll probably be entertained.

I give it a 3 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: High School High

Released in 1996, High School High is a comedy staring Jon Lovitz and I had honestly never even heard of this movie until I stumbled upon it today.

The movie is about an idealistic teacher named Richard Clark (played by Jon Lovitz) who has taken a job at a run down, crime filled, inner city high school, and the film pretty much centers around the obvious jokes that you'd expect with this premise: All the students are over exaggerated stereotypes, the teachers all drink, Jon Lovitz tries to connect with his students by talking their lingo and he just sounds like a nerd... You get the idea.

On his first day, Richard meets Tia Carrere's character Victoria who will be this films love interest, the mean principle Doyle who he'll be working for, and Griff the former gang member/college hopeful/student he needs to get through to. As you can probably guess, this a parody of those inspirational teacher dramas like Stand and Deliver. Well, Richard soon turns the school around and earns the respect of the students, as well as, foiling the plans of a local gang that is trying to recruit Griff. In the end, everything works out and 6 of the students actually graduate high school.

So, is it any good?

  Well, the film currently sits at a whopping 13% on 'Rotten Tomatoes' and it's hard to argue that it should be rated too much higher. In general, I like Jon Lovitz and I think he's funny as a side character but, movies like this one prove why he's not the star of more comedies.

I got a few laughs out of it and it's not unwatchable by any stretch but, overall, the writing feels kind of lazy and there just aren't enough jokes that work to make this a really enjoyable movie.

I give it a 1.5 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: Cape Fear

Today's review is Cape Fear. (the 1991 Martin Scorsese remake, not the 1962 one)

 The plot here is simple but effective: A convict named Max Cady (played by Robert De Niro) has recently been released from prison after serving a 14yr sentence. His lawyer all those years ago was Sam Bowden (played by Nick Nolte) who, was so appalled by Cady's crime, that he buried evidence that might have lightened the sentence or even lead to an acquittal. So, Max is out to get his revenge on Sam, stalking and threatening him, his wife Leigh (played by Jessica Lange), and his 15yr old daughter Danielle (played by Juliette Lewis). Sam files a restraining order, hires a private investigator, pays a few goons to beat Cady up, and even tries fleeing on a houseboat... but it doesn't seem like anything can stop Max Cady.

Even though the original in 1962 was directed by John Lee Thompson, Martin Scorsese opted to give his version a very Hitchcockian feel. This makes the film an interesting hybrid of ideas and influences, and a pretty unique Scorsese picture. Aside from some pacing and camera angles, the music is the same Bernard Herrmann score from the original and the opening credits were done by Saul Bass (both men collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on a few of his most famous films). 

Overall, I wouldn't call this one my favorite Scorsese movie, or even my favorite Scorsese movie featuring Robert De Niro, but it's a suspenseful thriller and all of the acting solid. I typically argue against remakes but, this is one of the examples of a remake done right.

I give this one a 4 out of 5.

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A Look Back At: Apollo 13

"Houston, we have a problem"

 

Released in 1995 and based on real events, Apollo 13 is one of those rare movies that I recommend to anyone and everyone who hasn't seen it.

If you are one of those who is not familiar with the film, it focuses primarily on the crew of NASA's Apollo 13 mission which was supposed to land on the moon. However, after an oxygen tank explosion, the astronauts aboard soon find that their spacecraft is low breathable air, experiencing power failure, and the mission is no longer to land on the moon but to make it back to Earth alive. It's one of those movies where even though you know how it ends, it's still a thrilling road to get there and it's very rewatchable as well.

 In addition to being a very compelling story, the film really succeeds on pretty much every level. Ron Howard who directed the film did a great job, the cinematography is really good, James Horner's score compliments the film perfectly, and the movie it's full of exciting moments, drama, tension, and humor. Add into that some great acting: this is one of the best performances of Tom Hanks' career (This one took the #3 spot on my "10 Tom Hanks Movies Everyone Should See" list that I posted in October) but, in addition to him, Gary Sinies, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Bill Paxton, and all the other actors in the film are all really solid.

Again, I highly recommend this one and I'd put it up there with some of my very favorite space-based films. I give this one a 5 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: Tin Cup

Tin Cup is a 1996 sports/romantic-comedy movie starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo. Costner has been in quite a few sports films over the years starting in the late 80's and while Tin Cup isn't a bad movie, I don't think it's as good as Field of Dreams or Bull Durham but it's better than say For the Love of the Game.

The plot centers around a former star college golfer named Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy (played by Costner) who never made it in pro golf because his stubbornness, arrogance, and lack of motivation always got in his way. McAvoy now owns a Texas driving range where he works with his friend Romeo (played by Cheech Marin). One day Roy is asked to caddy for golf pro David Simms (played by Don Johnson), but it isn't long before he starts pestering Simms to go for the big shot instead of playing it safe and he gets fired as a result. However, Roy decides he gonna get even, qualify for the upcoming U.S. Open, and beat Simms.

So, then you get the typical ups and downs you kind of expect: Roy seeks the help of a psychologist named Molly (played by Rene Russo) who happens to be Simms' girlfriend and, of course, they fall for each other. He also acts like a jerk to his buddy Romeo who then quits caddying for him, but they make up like nothing happened. The plot is pretty bland throughout a good chuck of the movie until the last 20-25mins. The U.S. open is underway, Roy is battling for 1st place, and everything comes down to the last hole. There is a water hazard near the green and all Roy has to do is play it safe, shoot for par, and go to a playoff. In most films, he would've have learned his lesson over the course of the film and finally play it safe, but not in this case. He goes for the big shot and the ball lands in the water. Stubbornly, he goes for it again, and again, and again, repeatedly hitting it into the water, until he's down to his last ball and he finally hits it onto the green and into the hole. He blew a shot at winning the U.S. Open because of pride and arrogance, but knowing he could make the shot and being determined to do so kind of makes it feel like a win.

Is it a great movie? No, but some of the comedy works and if you like the cast and/or you're a fan of sports movies then you'll probably be entertained.

I give this one a 2.5 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: My Cousin Vinny

Not to sound like too much of a hypocrite here, because I often knock fish-out-of-water comedies that feel like they're written around one joke, but I really like the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny.

Now if you close your eyes, it's not hard to picture someone pitching this movie to some Hollywood executive "I've got an idea for a movie! Picture this... Joe Pesci... wait for it... in a small town in Alabama." 

"Is Joe Pesci going to be attempting a southern accent?" would likely be the follow up question.

"No." says the person pitching the idea "It's just Joe Pesci being Joe Pesci in Alabama, the jokes practically write themselves."

...and that's how I've always envisioned this movie got off the ground.

The film starts off with two college age friends Billy and Stan (played by Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield respectively) who are driving through Alabama and accidentally shoplift a can of tuna while making a pit stop at a convenient store. Shortly after they leave the store, the clerk is murdered and the two friends are mistaken for the killers. Once arrested, they call Billy's mom who informs them that Billy's cousin Vinny is a lawyer. So, Vinny Gambini (played by Joe Pesci) and his fiancee Mona Lisa Vito (played by Marisa Tomei) arrive from Brooklyn and, right away, they're out of there element. Mona wonders why there's not a Chinese restaurant in the small town, their car gets stuck in the mud, they don't know what grits are, etc. Although it's a fairly predictable plot, the dynamic between Vinny and Mona, and between Vinny and Judge Haller (played by Fred Gwynne) provide a lot of laughs. 

Vinny has only been practicing law for a few months, failed the Bar exam a handful of times, and has never been to trial so he makes a lot of mistakes that irritate Judge Haller and for a while he losses the confidence of Billy and Stan. However in the end, Vinny, with a lot of help from Mona, wins the case and all charges are dropped. Even though you kind of know early on where everything is going it still manages to be really entertaining. The comedy doesn't feel forced and pretty much all of the jokes hit their mark. Also, the performances in the film are all top-notch, Marisa Tomei even won an Oscar for her role in the movie. (I think. Don't fact check me on that one.)

Overall, it's a really fun movie and if you've never seen it then I recommend checking it out.

I give it a 4 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: Quiz Show

Every so often there will be a movie that has been recommended to me or that I've heard is pretty good for a while, and I just never got around to checking it out. That's been the case with the 1994 film Quiz Show.

In a nutshell, the film is about a 50's game show called 'Twenty One' on NBC that is rigged in order to generate more public interest, thus increasing ratings and generating more money for the show's sponsor. Eventually when the ratings plateau, the two men who run the show Dan Enright (played by David Paymer and Albert Freedman (played by Hank Azaria) convince the recurring champion Herb Stempel (played by John Turturro) to lose on purpose, so that a good-looking, marketable guy named Charles Van Doren (played by Ralph Finnes) can be the champ. Of course after throwing the game, Stempel is bitter and he'll tell anyone who will listen that the game is rigged. It doesn't take long for a young congressional lawyer named Dick Goodwin (played by Rob Morrow) to catch wind of the possible rigging and he heads to New York to investigate. 

From there it's a lot of Van Doren feeling guilty, Stempel being angry, Goodwin trying to build a case, and Enright trying to cover it all up, but it's done in a very entertaining way. For the most part it's all well written, well directed, and well acted which is especially important because this one could have very easily been a dull, run-of-the-mill, corruption movie. I particularly liked Rob Morrow and Ralph Finnes in the film, but even some of the smaller roles like Christopher McDonald as the game show host and Martian Scorsese as the 'Geritol' executive manage to stand out.

Overall, it's a good movie. It's not one I foresee myself watching over and over, but I definitely enjoyed it. 

I give this one a 4 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: RoboCop 3

The day has arrived to finish out the reviews of the RoboCop trilogy.

I've already reviewed 1987's RoboCop and the 1990 follow-up RoboCop 2, and I'll leave links to those reviews at the bottom of this post, but now it's time to look at 1993's RoboCop 3.

Right off the bat, two departures from the previous films hurt this one:

 1) It's rated PG-13, not R. At a glance that may not be that big of a deal but, if you're a fan of RoboCop as I am, then a PG-13 rating takes a lot of the edge out of a film who's franchise never shied away from harsh language and violence. 

2) Peter Weller didn't return as RoboCop/Alex Murphy for this one and was replaced by Robert Burke. But hey, no big deal right? The actor playing RoboCop is almost completely covered by the suit, so you probably can't even tell that it's a different guy. Wrong. It's noticeable from his first line in the film that they swapped out actors and, though it never sounds quite right, I could've looked the other way if the movie was great... or good... or even just OK.

To the movie's credit, this isn't one of those sequels that has little-to-nothing to do with the previous films. The 'Delta City' project is still moving forward and the destruction of old Detroit has begun, the Police have gone on strike, and RoboCop still has the same partner Officer Anne Lewis (played by Nancy Allen).

Unfortunately, the film isn't well written, there is an annoying child computer-whiz character, Anne Lewis dies pretty early on (Spoiler Alert), and there is an underground resistance group without a single likeable character in the bunch. The movie also has a robot-ninja, which probably sounded really cool in the script but in the actual movie it's pretty lame. Add in the fact that RoboCop has a jet-pack in the film, something that was clearly added in just to sell toys, (Admittedly, I had the RoboCop jet-pack action figure as a kid) and you get a disappointing end to the RoboCop trilogy.

It's still a RoboCop movie and I love the character, which makes it hard to give it a zero.
So, I'll give this one a very unenthusiastic 1 out of 5.


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RoboCop
RoboCop 2

A Look Back At: RoboCop 2

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

RoboCop 2 is the 1990 follow up to 1987's RoboCop (you can check out my review of that one here), and it suffers from what so many other sequels do: It gives you more of what you liked from the first film, tries to go bigger and bolder, but ends up unable to recapture the magic of the original.
A half-man/half-robot police officer is already a pretty nutty premise, and so what does RoboCop 2 offer? Another half-man/half-robot, except this one has the brain of a former drug dealer and is addicted to narcotics... 

Just like in the first film, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) is dead set on tearing down old, crime-riddled Detroit and, in it's place, building 'Delta City'. To increase public support for the Delta City project, OCP (who owns the Detroit Police Department) cuts the police salaries which leads to a police strike and an increase in crime. RoboCop however doesn't go on strike because he's a robot, what does he care?

 Early on, RoboCop raids a manufacturing plant where they make a new, highly-addictive drug called Nuke, and he kills all the criminals except for a kid named Hob, a character that is arguably the worst part of this movie. Meanwhile, OCP is trying to develop a "RoboCop 2", with the intention of replacing all of the police officers, and for some reason a psychologist named Dr. Juliette Faxx thinks that putting the brain of a criminal in the robot is a good idea. It isn't long before a drug lord named Cain (played by Tom Noonan) is killed and his brain is placed inside of a model 2 RoboCop. As you would expect, this was a terrible idea and creates the big villain of the film. Of course, in the end, the original RoboCop defeats the new model.

As I stated at the beginning, they tried to duplicate the success of the first film by having just as much violence and action, but somewhere in the process they forgot to write a good movie. Now, it's not unwatchable and it's definitely not as bad as RoboCop 3. There are some fun moments, decent action scenes and solid special effects, but unless you really loved the first film, I wouldn't recommend this sequel. 

I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: Cutthroat Island (1995)

Cutthroat Island is a 1995 action/adventure flick with a reputation as being a 'bad movie', but is that a fair assessment? Now I'm not going to try to make an argument that's it's a great film, because it's not, but I will say that there are enough redeeming qualities to make it worth watching.

So, what's the film about? Well, it's a pretty generic plot: Genna Davis plays a pirate named Morgan Adams, who's father (also a pirate) has been killed, so she takes over as Captain of his ship and sets off to find the treasure buried on 'Cutthroat Island'. However, she only has one piece of the treasure map and thus, sets out to find the other two pieces. She rescues and, over the course of their adventure, falls for a thief named William Shaw (played by Matthew Modine). They eventually learn the location of the island, but there is another pirate crew led by Dawg Brown (played by Frank Langella) that is also after the treasure. In the end, after a big high seas pirate battle, it's Morgan that defeats Dawg and gets the gold.

Overall, there aren't a great number of really good pirate movies in the world, and Cutthroat Island is far from the worst. The movie does have a really good score, as well as, some fun action scenes with big sets, sword fights, cannons, and pyrotechnics. The acting is decent and there's also a bit of humor thrown in and some of it works. The film moves along at a brisk pace and, if nothing else, it'll likely keep you entertained during it's 2hr runtime. Sure, the plot is thin and predictable and many of the characters are underdeveloped but, again, there are far worse pirate films out there.

 

I give this one a 2.5 out of 5

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A Look Back At: The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Big Lebowski is one of those movies that, depending on who you talk to, is either a masterpiece or just dumb. That's kind of the beauty of this 1998 comedy, it seems like everyone gets something else out of it.

The setup seems simple enough; An unemployed, slacker, and avid bowler named Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (played by Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for a millionaire also named Jeffrey Lebowski. The millionaire Lebowski's wife is kidnapped, and he hires The Dude to deliver the ransom money to the kidnappers. However, things don't go as planned and from there the film is off to the races.

The movie is filled with a great and memorable cast of characters, especially the Dude's friend Walter Sobchak (played by John Goodman), funny dialogue, and creative dream sequences. But, one of the unique things about the film is that from Sam Elliot's opening narration all the way through until the end of the movie nothing ever seems to get resolved. The film is compelling and you want to know what this series of events is all leading up to. By the time you reach the end credits you realize that,  any number of scenes and characters could've been cut from the film entirely without it changing the final result, and plot threads that were started never really lead to an end. The only necessary element is The Dude and even he has no real character arc. The Dude is the same guy at the end of the film as he was at the beginning, he's not better for the experience, and he doesn't learn any sort of lesson. In the end "The Dude abides".

I give this one a 4 out of 5.
 If you've never seen it, go check it out. You'll definitely be entertained.


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