This concludes the part of Tom’s career that I’d like to call the pre-Maverick years. This is a bit of a strange finale to that era because, prior to Legend, Cruise worked as mostly a straight-man in realistic movies. Realism has become kind of a trademark for him and it’s clear from his early career that he expresses that through his intense dedication and presence to otherwise boring character parts. Only Risky Business really stands out to me as a great performance and an interesting character.
But the thing is, Tom must have been absolutely CRUSHING his auditions. Legend is his 7th movie in 5 years, and he’s gone from barely having any speaking lines at all to being the lead in a Ridley Scott movie. He also sheds all of the beefcakitude and charm built into his other roles and play a waifish, androgynous teen who never wears pants.
Seriously, he doesn’t wear pants for the entire movie! Even when he wears what appears to be a gilded armor tunic, he doesn’t wear pants. And he squats A LOT. Oh, does he ever squat.
There are a lot of good things about this movie. Tim Curry is funny and scary at the same time. Mia Sara has an extended dance number alongside a personified black, sparkly gown. The credit reel features a Unicorn Master.
But Cruise comes off as kind of a dolt. I think if I watched this movie at the time it was released I would think he was a sort of mediocre actor whose career would ride on whether he was able to land good roles as a handsome guy in successful movies.
Little would I realize that he was about to become an inferno.
Next: Top Gun
Every Tom Cruise Movie 