Not since he was Frank T.J. Mackey in 1999's Magnolia has Tom Cruise been in a film that I liked.

Since Magnolia, he was in

Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Minority Report (2002)
The Last Samurai (2003)
and
Collateral (2004)

Coming soon: War of the Worlds and gak!Mission: Impossible III

What the hell happened to him? He was my favorite actor of all-time, and he hasn't been in a true acting movie since Magnolia. Where's the drama? Everything today is Action! Action! ACTION!!

Am I alone in not liking Cruise's choice of films in the 21st century?

VERY disappointed in him - he hasn't returned my call in 3 weeks!!!

No seriously, I like MI:2 for entertainment sake, and are you saying Vanilla Sky and The Last Samarui weren't "true acting"?? Those are great movies, and he did an outstanding job in both of them.

It was his combination of "action action action" with dramatic acting roles that made him the star he is.

Okay, he may have acted in Vanilla Sky and The Last Samurai, but those weren't good movies to me. I hate those weird genres (Vanilla Sky) where nothing is as it seems. Where's the Cruise movies like A Few Good Men, Born on the 4th of July, or Jerry Maguire? Reality-based films. Bring em back, yaw, bring em back, yaw.

I'm on neutral ground with Tom.

At one time I despised him due to the films he made and the persona he took on in them (ie:Top Gun and Cocktail). Then my opinion of him started to change as he took on challenging roles in films such as Born on the 4th of July, Eyes Wide Shut & Magnolia.

I'm looking forward to War of the Worlds , but I would also like to see him in more films like Magnolia, roles where he isn't afraid to show the dark or negative side of a character.

I liked Minority Report and Collateral better than anything he'd been in prior to 2000.

I liked both Minority Report and Vanilla Sky.

I just don't (and never have) liked Tom Cruise.

An actor's good looks can detract from their screen presence. Pretty Boy Syndrome. Ben Affleck also suffers from this.

I think it's tough to argue a lack of screen presence, looks or not, for Tom Cruise.

I liked all of the films mentioned that you did not like and can't wait for War of the Worlds and M:I 3.

I am not at all disappointed with Tom Cruise's latest movies. I loved The Last Samurai and I like Collateral, Minority Report, and Mission: Impossible II.

Me too,with the exception of Vanilla Sky,which i haven't seen (and probably never will).In fact The Last Samurai is in my Top 3 all-time favorite movies.

Agreed. I also enjoyed him in Vanilla Sky.

I liked all those films quite a bit. Not dissapointed at all.

Not me. Cruise is one of the few actor's that I'd go to see in ANYTHING.

Same here. As his career has progressed, I've appreciated him more and more.

Uhmm, no.

minus vanilla sky all them movies have been really good to great. no disappointment here.

Nope. Many of the recent films you listed have been very good films, most especially Collateral. Cruise is a talented actor and does well in pretty much everything he has been in. His low point, IMHO, was 1990-1992. Days of Thunder, in particular, was a film he shouldn't have been involved in.

My personal favorite of his has been and still is The Color of Money.

I was thinking what his low point was and also came to this short span of years as my answer, which included Days of Thunder (the only film he had a writing credit for) and Far and Away (was glorious in Super 65mm, but not a very strong movie). However, he was quick on the rebound with A Few Good Men and The Firm released in the following year.

Looking over his filmography, he has been solid year-in and year-out for his entire career.

i think TC is one of the premier actors of my time. i enjoy and will see just about everything he is in sans MI:2 (that was just bad).
but his others are pretty action oriented, but also cerbral and in case of LS, majestic. he picks the roles and he picks good ones at that. no denying his magnetism and draw and WotW will do even more incredible business simply because he is in it and good in it.

no way, i loved the Last Samurai and collateral.

Crappy movies are what made Tom Cruise the superstar he is. Risky Business, Top Gun, Cocktail, whatever.

He is the Rick Springfield of movie stars, and his career deserved to die in the 80s. Sadly it didn't, so we've been stuck with the pompous and shallow ass ever since.

wow, thats pretty harsh. i thought you were talking about vin diesel. cruise has great range and can play anything from comedy to drama. he makes each role his own and will definitely have a best actor academy award on his mantle before his career is through. his box office draw is undeniable.

Tom Cruise's career has been around for a long time. And if it is finally starting to slack off, it might have something to with age more than anything else.

Harrison Ford's career is going south and Tom Hanks' is not doing too good either.

The only one who's career seems to be doing good is Mel Gibson. But he really hasn't been "acting" in awhile.

I think Cruise has greater staying power of any current actor in Hollywood. He's evolved from his sex symbol status of the 80s to more dynamic roles in recent years. Adamblast - I'll agree with you on both Top Gun and Cocktail as being nothing more than crowd-pleasers (albeit effective ones), but will call you on Risky Business.

Last Samurai and Collateral weren't too bad actually.