Is it safe to say that now that the couch jumping caricature of Tom Cruise is dead? Where once “Cruise Crazy” ran rampant in supermarket tabloids, the world seems to have forgotten the trend in favor new flavors of the week. That being said, there is no doubting that the actions of the high grossing actor throughout the mid-2000s did do harm to his public image. Films such as “Oblivion and “Knight and Day” have not left the biggest impact on the box-office or with audiences than “Top Gun” or “Jerry McGuire.” Yes, the name Tom Cruise plastered across a poster showing him hanging from a 747 is still a draw, but it does not evoke the same marketing pull as the films of his glory years. However, although his prospects may have dropped, what has not is his ability to perform, in fact, it’s only improved. No longer is he the pretty boy actor, or the loon, he’s a charisma powerhouse that knows how to play off of his humility.
Perhaps the best marker for this transition would be the Brad Bird-helmed “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” the fourth installment in an, at the time, 15-year-old action franchise. That age alone screams studio desperation, but thanks to Bird’s direction and good word of mouth the film ended up becoming a massive holiday hit and effectively revitalized the franchise. Yet, this praise is not complete without giving a hand to Cruise who displayed great maturity in his portrayal of an older Ethan Hunt. No longer did the franchise feel like a one-man show, instead Cruise found himself working with an outstanding ensemble and provided distinct moments for all of its cast members to shine. This, in fact, benefited Cruise to his advantage as the scenes focusing on his actions felt more like a treat, whether he is running like a bat out of hell in a sandstorm or scaling the world’s tallest building.
“Ghost Protocol” may have been the catalyst to the Tom Cruise action renaissance, but there are a number of noteworthy additions in his filmography that have propelled his evoltuion as an action star, the most popular being “Jack Reacher.” In this adaptation of Lee Child’s famous literary icon, Cruise indulges himself in a role that is essentially the modern incarnation of the Natty Bumppo caricature; a mythic altruistic American hero boasting masculine stoicism in the most tasteful and satisfying way. With this character, Cruise is able to strip himself of flashy daredevil stunt work and put his charisma front and center to highlight his showmanship. His stature may be a far cry from the 6-foot, broad-shouldered Jack Reacher on the page, but Cruise’s is performance certainly lives up to the level of badass need to do the character justice. With “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” not too far on the horizon, it’s only a short waiting period for Cruise to put the character to use again.
Although perhaps the best example of Cruise’s evolution is 2014’s criminally overlooked, “Edge of Tomorrow." A sci-fi action thriller that feels like an unholy mix of Aliens and "Groundhog Day" that sees Cruise playing an arrogant Major who is caught in a time loop that causes him to relive the assault of an invading alien threat until they are completely wiped out. What is fantastic about the film is how it allows Cruise to play with his humility. Often the complaint of Cruise’s action roles is that he is always playing a character who is played up as too cool or skilled to be relatable. Here, the audience gets to see his character hone his skills over consecutive days, under the guidance of Emily Blunt, to ultimately earn his action hero status. The film is actually much more like a comedy to this extent, taking full advantage of its creative presence and its leading man.
At Cruise’s current period of his career, many people in his position would either start to take more Oscar bait roles, or perhaps play characters that are a bit more pedestrian. But Cruise is showing no signs of slowing down his action movie career, even though that proverbial clock will eventually catch up to him. Maybe then he can call up Paul Thomas Anderson and resurrect "Magnolia's" Frank T.J. Mackey. One can only dream.
