You know him. You love him or you hate him. You’ve seen his wacky Scientologist videos. You’ve scoffed as his strange personal life. You’ve seen him jump on Oprah’s couch, but have you seen him in the 1983 sex-romp, “Losin’ It”? I didn’t think so. Here’s a list of some of Tom Cruises best and worst, but always interesting roles:
“Losin’ It” (1983)
Did you know Tom Cruise starred in an early 1980s lose-your-virginity sex romp? He did! It’s not very good! It’s actually pretty horrible. But it’s funny because it’s Tom Cruise and Shelly Long.
“Legend” (1985)
This isn’t based on the video game “The Legend of Zelda,” but it looks like it could be. Tom Cruise plays the role of a wimpy fairyland leading man in this strange fantasy film by “Gladiator” and “Alien” director Ridley Scott.
“Cocktail” (1988)
Most people watch “Cocktail” nowadays to laugh at all the 80s clichés. Tom Cruise plays Brian Flanagan, a bartender at a T.G.I. Friday’s Brian works his way up into trendier bars that don’t have kareoke and air hockey tables eventually getting into a major fight that forces him to take a job in Jamaica as a bartender to raise money to buy his own place. It’s a fun romp, especially watching Cruise ham it up at the Jamaican bar.
“Eyes Wide Shut” (1999)
A strange but actually pretty good role for Tom, he plays the unhappily married Manhattenite role pretty well and I have to commend him for the risk he took in taking on this controversial role in Stanley Kubrick’s last film. Tom Cruise isn’t a complete hack, and this role in “Eyes Wide Shut” is proof of that.
“Magnolia” (1999)
One of the few believable Tom Cruise roles, in “Magnolia” he plays Frank T.J. Mackey, a mysterious author of “Seduce a Destroy” a misogynist self-help book teaching men to “tame” women. His character is self-obsessed outwardly, but inwardly deeply scarred and troubled by his father’s abandonment.
Alan McGee is a freelance writer from MN.
