I Still Feel The Need, The Need For Speed

Here’s a little pop quiz. I’m going to list three famous people. What’s the first thing you think of when these names are mentioned? Michael Jackson, Pete Rose, and Bill Clinton.

Okay, what did you come up with? Something like: Groundbreaking Pop Icon, Legendary Hard-hitting Athlete, and Charismatic Public Official?

Or was it closer to: Wacko Pervert, Cheating Liar, and Slippery Philanderer?

Sometimes it’s hard to separate the achievements people make in their profession from what gets played out in Star magazine, isn’t it? We’re all victim to it, but it’s not really our fault. It’s the media’s. (Hooray, a scapegoat!) We’re surrounded everyday by a media onslaught of dirt about famous people. USWeekly, Entertainment Tonight, and TMZ.com, besides being deliciously intriguing, can define a star’s image with a single off-color sound bite or incriminating photo.

On the chopping block again this week is Tom Cruise, who seemed to have almost recovered from the rabid performance on Oprah and that unfortunate Today Show appearance where he single-handedly reintroduced the word “glib” to the vernacular. A new unauthorized tell-all by Andrew Morton hit shelves Tuesday and promises to serve up juicy tidbits about Cruise’s sexuality, his choke-hold on Katie Holmes, and the strange things he does for his religion. Also making the internet rounds is a video interview of an overly rambunctious Cruise spouting the virtues of Scientology.

Poor Tom.

No, honestly, poor Tom. I know he’s a movie star and a gazillionaire, but I also know he’s headed down the same road as the three people at the top of this column. All the film roles, all the charity work, all the contributions to the industry, and he’s going to be remembered as the Scientology nut who jumped on couches and put his brainwashed bride on lockdown. I think that’s sad.

From dancing in his tighty-whiteys in Risky Business to dangling from the ceiling in Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise has entertained us with great performances in some fantastic flicks. In order to keep a little perspective on Thomas Mapother IV, I’ve compiled a list of my top five Cruise movies as a reminder that just because the tabloids tell us he’s a wack-job, sometimes there’s nothing better than a tub of popcorn and a little vintage Tom.

A Few Good Men
It may be my slightly obsessive fascination with Aaron Sorkin, or possibly my soft spot for Rob Reiner’s movies, but I don’t think Cruise movies get better than this. Tight script, impeccable pacing, just the right amount of Jack Nicholson chewing the scenery: this is the kind of movie that I can watch over and over and never get bored.

Collateral
Cruise goes way outside his comfort zone in Michael Mann’s taut thriller. And I don’t just mean the gray hair. As Vincent, a professional hitman, he uses nuance and subtlety to create an actual human being out of this vicious character. In a different movie, with a different actor, Vincent could have been a caricature, a comic-book villain twirling his mustache. With Cruise, he’s terrifyingly real. Watch this film and see Cruise doing some of his most delicate work.

Minority Report
Action-packed, powered by amazing special effects and helmed by Spielberg, this movie has Summer Blockbuster written all over it in huge block letters. But it’s also topical and provocative; it tells a suspenseful story but leaves the viewer asking some serious questions about the nature of privacy in an expanding world. Cruise can write his own ticket and make another gazillion dollars by starring in any old Popcorn Flick, but he chooses to make movies that challenge his audience. I think that says something.

Interview with the Vampire
Wispy blonde locks notwithstanding, this is a side of Tom Cruise I’d like to see more often. Cavalier, passionate, and teetering on the edge of madness. I mean, of course, in his film roles. So often, Cruise plays characters that are completely in control, so confident and sure that every action they take will succeed. His Lestat is a ticking time-bomb of insecurity deftly wrapped in an arrogant façade. It’s exciting to watch that pretense slip away, and Cruise’s range as an actor has never been better showcased in one movie.

Top Gun
If you don’t love Top Gun, you are never getting invited to my Oscar party. Tom Cruise is pitch-perfect as Maverick, just cocky enough and just vulnerable enough. Infinitely quotable, both funny and moving, this movie hits every note. The sweat-soaked flexing in the volleyball scene has nothing to do with my opinion, of course. (Yes, Goose, you can keep your T-Shirt on.) And for my money, the love scene with Kelly McGillis, shot in silhouette and shadow, is way hotter than the Rebecca DeMornay train escapade from Risky Business.