Tom Cruise Rewind

Cocktail remains one of the most well-known Tom Cruise films, even if for the completely wrong reasons. Despite being a commercial success, it was lambasted by critics, earning it its spot as his lowest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes to this day. With that much unanimous negative feedback, it feels silly to argue anything different; however, I do believe there is something of value to be found within it, even if it takes a bit of digging to get there.

While filming Top Gun, Tom Cruise received an offer to work with yet another critically acclaimed director. This time, it was Martin Scorsese, and the project was the 1986 movie The Color of Money , a sequel to the 1961 film The Hustler with Paul Newman reprising the title character. Although the film is a solid enough endeavor, it doesn't get close to recapturing the critical acclaim of its predecessor.

I was concerned about rewatching Top Gun because, in truth, I'm not sure what I can say that hasn't already been said about it. After all, Top Gun is the most quintessentially 80s movie to exist. It has it all: mindless action, blatant US military propaganda, forced romantic subplots, cheesy synths, Berlin and Kenny Loggins, homoerotic subtext, and, of course, Tom Cruise. Of course, there's something interesting to be said when the film is put into the context of the 80s and of Cruise's life and career.

By 1985, Tom Cruise had already worked with two well-known directors in his four years in Hollywood: first, there was Francis Ford Coppola on The Outsiders (1983), and then there was Ridley Scott and Legend (1985). As the story goes, Cruise was hot off of Risky Business when he became involved with the production of this film. However, its disastrous reception upon release nearly ended Cruise's career before it even began.

Closing up the unofficial trilogy where Tom Cruise losing his virginity is essential to the plot is the 1983 movie All the Right Moves . As the last of four films that Cruise released in 1983, it brings me no pleasure to say it does little to continue the thought-provoking commentary put forth by Risky Business to settle for a mediocre coming-of-age story that says little instead.