Face-Off: Tom Cruise vs. Brad Pitt

A TV spot was playing the other day on the night that Top Gun was to be broadcasted and of course it featured the infamous volleyball scene. My mother squealed, hollered, fanned herself and all that jazz…if that doesn’t sum up Cruise’s power as “sexy beast” I am unaware of what does. I suppose it helps when the iconic scene from one of the films that launched your career is you dancing in nothing but undies and a dress shirt, food for thought. Thanks to his gravitation towards action roles in his later years, the man is still no slouch when it comes to his physique. How do I find Tom Cruise a stud? Would have to say his dedication to performing his own stunts in his films…the man seems fearless.

Early films that I loved like All the Right Moves and the classic Risky Business introduced the word to Tom Cruise…and then Top Gun hit. From there we get films like Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, Days of Thunder, Few Good Men, Interview with the Vampire, Jerry Maguire, and the Mission Impossible franchise. Tom Cruise strikes me as an early Leonardo DiCaprio, in the desire to not be typecast as a sex symbol he eventually leaned towards roles that would challenge him as far as acting goes and I dug it. Other great Cruise films include the genius Collateral, The Last Samurai, and War of the Worlds. Also, super pumped for Oblivion.

A famous story is one I think sums up Tom Cruise’s talent in his performances. Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire despised the idea of Tom Cruise portraying Lestat, but when she saw the final film she praised Tom’s performance stating that he was “her Lestat.” No greater compliment if you ask me. Other amazing Cruise performances came out Jerry Maguire, Few Good Men (that final courtroom scene), Eyes Wide Shut, Collateral, and his turn in Magnolia. I even thought the man was a comedic genius in films like Tropic Thunder and Rock of Ages. A member of MFC posted a clip of Collateral the other day of a scene where no words were needed, but just a brief glimpse in the eyes of Tom Cruise convey him wondering how his character’s life ended up the way it did. I always thought Cruise was a king of the subtle moment. You can watch said clip here

A lot of people have brought Tom’s eccentricities and the way he chooses to live his life into their opinion of the man, that may be cool when you know the man personally, but I know the Tom Cruise that’s on screen…and he’s never let me down. He owned the dramatic roles early on in his career and is now carving himself a nice little niche as an action hero, it appears the man can do no wrong. Tom has some very intriguing films coming out in the future with Oblivion and the intriguing concept from the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill. I appreciate the man most for his dedication to his craft, especially as I said the physical aspects of the Mission Impossible franchise, keep trucking Tom.