The Big Picture · Discussion · Hall of Fame · Roundtable

The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame

May 24, 2022/ 106 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Chris Ryan returns in person the week before 'Top Gun: Maverick' to help Sean and Amanda build a 10-film Tom Cruise Hall of Fame, after litigating the results of the 1992 movie draft and taste-testing the actual Cruise Christmas cake.

46 films across 3 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Tom Cruise, the last movie starbiography and career arc before the induction

Risky Business 1983

Sean's first exposure to Cruise was the dance, before he'd even seen A Few Good Men.

Top Gun 1986

Framing device for the whole episode: a movie that 'tracks old' but that Maverick returns to as Cruise's defense of theatrical moviegoing.

A Few Good Men 1992

Amanda's answer to 'when did you first see him': crystallizes his charisma and underdogness.

Jerry Maguire 1996

The genre-blend example of peak, all-figured-out Cruise: comedy, drama, romance, sports movie in one.

Eyes Wide Shut 1999

Called 'the inverse of the Tom Cruise persona': Kubrick riffing on his fame and getting a compelling, failing, cuckolded performance out of him.

Magnolia 1999

Cited as proof Paul Thomas Anderson understands exactly what Cruise is good at, and lets him comment on his own image.

Collateral 2004

Raised as evidence he can go against type (his only true villain performance) and still work.

The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame10 films, whittled down from 16

Risky Business 1983

The one nobody argued about: 'it's got to be in.'

Top Gun 1986

Unanimous green from the start: 'the greenest of greens.'

Born on the Fourth of July 1989

Called his best performance; swapped in for Rain Man in the final round of cuts.

A Few Good Men 1992

'Legendary' status on the show; the whisper-then-yell Nicholson cross-examination singled out as one of his best-directed scenes.

Mission: Impossible 1996

The first film in the franchise and the introduction of Ethan Hunt; kept as the franchise's one-to-three-era representative.

Jerry Maguire 1996

Oscar-nominated and never seriously at risk of getting cut.

Eyes Wide Shut 1999

His 'acting year,' kept green alongside Magnolia despite what Sean calls his own Kubrick-and-PTA bias.

Magnolia 1999

Called the number-one lock of the whole list; never seriously argued against.

Collateral 2004

Amanda's pick, his only villain turn, survives the last cut alongside Fallout.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout 2018

The post-2005 franchise slot, nearly swapped out for Rain Man; kept because, as Chris argues, it 'cements that Tom Cruise is back.'

The cutting room floor serious contenders that missed the final ten

Picked by Amanda

The Firm 1993

In and out of the ledger twice; a 'one lawyer only' rule against A Few Good Men ultimately sinks it.

Picked by Sean and Chris

Rain Man 1988

His only Best Picture winner; argued back in late, then traded out for Born on the Fourth of July in the last round.

Minority Report 2002

Called 'amazing,' but written off as more a Spielberg achievement than a Cruise one.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol poster

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 2011

The Burj Khalifa set piece and the 'Hunt is back' movie; called good but loses out to Fallout as the franchise's later pick.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation poster

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 2015

Called 'great' and praised for introducing Rebecca Ferguson; still voted out against Fallout.

The Mummy 2017

'This movie is an abomination': Sean's only non-festival walkout, and the stalled attempt to make Cruise the Dark Universe's centerpiece.

The Color of Money 1986

The nine-ball hustle set to Werewolves of London; goes green early, then loses a head-to-head with Collateral.

Cocktail 1988

Nobody can decide about it: a proposed zodiac-killer cipher stands in for an actual color, and it never gets voted in.

Days of Thunder 1990

Acknowledged as tapping the same vein as Top Gun and not pursued further.

Far and Away 1992

An instant pass.

Interview with the Vampire 1994

A villain turn as Lestat, called 'pretty bad' on rewatch; an instant pass.

Mission: Impossible II 2000

John Woo's entry; not in, despite admiration for the swing of hiring him.

Vanilla Sky 2001

The Cameron Crowe remake of Abre los Ojos; called admirable and interesting but not Hall of Fame material.

The Last Samurai 2003

Rewatched for the first time in 20 years and judged 'a bit of a slog.'

War of the Worlds 2005

Defended as an underrated blockbuster experience, but voted out as more a Spielberg movie than a Cruise one.

Mission: Impossible III 2006

Called Philip Seymour Hoffman's movie more than his, and the fourth-best entry in the franchise.

Lions for Lambs 2007

The Redford-directed political drama; an instant pass.

Tropic Thunder 2008

The glorified-cameo studio-exec parody; charming to some, 'trying too hard' to others, cut in a later trim.

Valkyrie 2008

Voted red immediately despite a stacked supporting cast.

Knight and Day 2010

The James Mangold action comedy with Cameron Diaz; a flop with a good premise that doesn't hang together.

Jack Reacher 2012

McQuarrie's directorial debut with Cruise; left off given how many other cuts were already needed.

Rock of Ages 2012

Dismissed instantly and 'seriously' disliked.

Oblivion 2013

Rewatched to prep for Maverick and called better than expected, but only ever yellow.

Edge of Tomorrow 2014

A five-star movie for Sean and Chris and the last one cut, dropped because it doesn't carry the 'Cruise reinvented himself' argument that Fallout does.