I’m not too sure what James Gunn was thinking when he decided to knock Tom Cruise’s acting abilities the other day. Gunn was explaining to Empire Magazine why Cruise couldn't have played Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's Adam Warlock:
I wanted somebody who was youthful, and I wanted the person who had the dramatic chops and the comedic chops...
The youthful part, I get. However, Cruise lacking the necessary dramatic and comedic acting chops to be in a Marvel movie is, quite honestly, ludicrous.
Over his four-decade career, Cruise has worked with Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Brian De Palma, Ridley Scott, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Ron Howard, Neil Jordan and Jon Woo. I wouldn’t even put Gunn on this list, even if Cruise had starred in one of his silly movies.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, many tend to forget what a great actor Tom Cruise actually is. You can’t watch a film like “Born on the Fourth of July” without noticing that talent on full display.
Yes, there’s his affinity for starring in all of those “Mission: Impossible” movies, but Cruise built his career as a dramatic actor first and as an action star second. He should have gotten nominated for “Collateral” and the comedic genius that was his “Tropic Thunder” performance. He also should have WON for the best performance of his career in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia.”
It's as Frank T.J. Mackey in “Magnolia”, the slick televangelist-preaching male chauvanist, that Cruise scored the most important cinematic triumph of his career. Exhibiting a melange of uptight fastidiousness with ADD-like cocksure confidence, this was the chance for Cruise to finally be liberated artistically and not think at all about his image.
The sheer risk-taking involved in Cruise delivering that performance still feels damn-near cathartic for the audience, even 24 years since the film’s release. The actor has never taken more risks as an actor than in “Magnolia.” Which begs me to ask the question: has James Gunn even seen it?