Tom Cruise established his tons of personality brand of acting with Risky Business and Top Gun and followed that up with Cocktail and Rain Man, in the 1980’s.

Top Gun catapulted him to stardom in 1986 playing a cocksure flyer in the Airforce with grin, muscle and way too much charm. It cemented Cruises reputation as one of the personalities of cinema in the 1980’s.

The 1990’s was Cruise in his dramatic element. While not tons of personality as before, he still engaged audiences with a refined Tom Cruise persona. Characters became vulnerable and revealed more of a human side, roles that showed another dimension to the star.

He got raves for his performances in A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia. Those were films that fundamentally departed from the Cruise we knew from Top Gun.

Serious roles

In 1989, Cruise starred in Born on the Fourth of July. It was a Vietnam War film about paraplegic Ron Kovic who took a strong stand against the government that sent him to Vietnam. The role was a departure for Cruise though his next film was racing car actioner Days of Thunder, more in line with Top Gun.

In Jerry Maguire, Cruise played the role of a sports manager Jerry Maguire who bows out of the game to focus on what matters in life. Jerry Maguire begins to honor the people he’s managing rather than making a profit out of them and selling them short.

In Eyes Wide Shut, the boundaries of fidelity and faithfulness are tested in the trial of temptations and jealousy.

The new millennium has seen Cruise starring in films with more action and science fiction than drama, with Jack Reacher the latest on the market.

Lately

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back arrived at cinemas recently and is currently playing on screens. For a film critic to say that his new Jack Reacher film lacks charm doesn’t get the point of an action film. Action is a genre that isn’t naturally charming. So Cruise has departed from his 1980s look, again.

Cruise has also got raves for playing a less serious role, a comic performance in Tropic Thunder, a film released in 2008.

He is a personality-type actor who went into meaningful drama and serious action fare.

For me, his dramatic roles are best remembered—where there is more of the reality of life and experience.