MovieChat Forums > Tom Cruise Discussion > I miss him playing dramatic roles

I miss him playing dramatic roles

posted 3 years ago by ksio89 (76)
4 replies | jump to latest

While I'm aware he loves playing in action movies and doing most of his own stunts, I still wished he picked up dramatic roles here and there. Recently I was on a Tom Cruise fix and watched three great films in sequence: Rain Man, Eyes Wide Shut and Vanilla Sky, and I couldn't help but feel he is so talented but is wasting his career with generic action/sci-fi movies.

I know the last movie where he played a dramatic role bombed commercially and critically and he doesn't owe anything to fans, but still, he is too good to only star in Mission Impossible, Top Gun or any forgettable sci-fi movie.

[–] samoanjoes (53127) 3 years ago

I think he realized he's getting to that age where he can't be as physical and he's only doing it while he still can.

[–] ksio89 (76) 3 years ago

You've just reminded me that the man has been running in movies for almost four decades! Anyway, if action films is what he loves playing in, hope he still has a few years left in him. Still like most of his action features, but a dramatic role here and there for a change wouldn't hurt.

[–] beauq81 (1028) 3 years ago

I think he finally found his niche. I never considered him very good at dramatic roles and, in most cases, the success of his dramas was due to good writing, cinematography and an excellent supporting cast.
Take, for example, the "you can't handle the truth" scene. The only one anyone remembers is Nicholson. In Rain man, everyone remembers Hoffmann. Jerry Maguire - Cuba Gooding and, even Renee Zellweger. Cocktail - Brian Brown. In War of the worlds, the first person that comes to mind, to me, is Tim Robins.

To me, he is Ellen Pompeo on Grey's Anatomy - she may be the lead, but the show survives on the side characters.

[–] Sidha108 (2409) 3 years ago

He definitely should make more movies like Eyes Wide Shut and Vanilla Sky. I love it when a big star does something deep and original that most mainstream audiences probably won’t get. Similar examples include Jennifer Lawrence in Mother and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master.

Maybe he could do something that is a good combination of deep drama and sci-fi/action like when he did Minority Report and War of the Worlds.