When They Were Cool: Tom Cruise

You used to be all right. What happened? - Radiohead

Tom Cruise used to be cool. Now he's not. As a matter of fact Tom Cruise hasn't been cool for a long time. You may have seen recent movies where Cruise was entertaining. Maybe he was even brilliant. One thing's certain: he certainly wasn't cool.

Enough negativity. This is not an anti-Tom Cruise article, but a celebration of those glorious days when Tom Cruise was cool. It is a time for joy and gaiety.

Tom Cruise's career can be summed up in three distinct phases. The first phase fits roughly to the span of the 1980s and is defined by Tom Cruise being way cool. This leads to the second phase during the 1990s where, as a result of Cruise's coolness, his sex life becomes more important than his film career. Days of Thunder and Far and Away were sweet, but his introduction to actress and future wife Nicole Kidman spelled the beginning of the end for his coolness. The final phase corresponds with the most recent decade, a period where Cruise's sex life, which should be considered at its peak with young beauty Katie Holmes, is eclipsed by his loony support of the Church of Scientology.

Remember when Tom Cruise was cool? Of course you do, but let me remind you anyways:

The movie is Risky Business. Tom Cruise plays Joel Goodson. He wears sunglasses. Already he's way cooler than Ferris Bueller. He sleeps with Lana, played by Rebecca De Mornay. He parks his father's Porsche in Lake Michigan. He dances in socks to the tune of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll"...

The movie is Top Gun. Tom Cruise plays Maverick. He pilots a F-14A Tomcat. He wears sunglasses and has the need, the need for speed. He's lost that loving feeling. He plays with the boys. His breath is taken away multiple times by Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), who he sleeps with...

The movie is Days of Thunder. Tom Cruise plays NASCAR driver Cole Trickle. He drives fast. He drafts behind other cars. He drives a toy car up the thigh of Dr. Claire Lewicki (played by Nicole Kidman) and he sleeps with her. He wears sunglasses...

These are unforgettable characters in scene after unforgettable scene of a series of unforgettable movies. The era of Tom Cruise's coolness has been over for nearly two decades, but lucky for us some evidence of that era still remains. Let us join together in watching the following movies in celebration of coolness: 

Endless Love (1981)

Taps (1981)

The Outsiders (1983)

Losin' It (1983)

Risky Business (1983)

All the Right Moves (1983)

Legend (1985)

Top Gun (1986)

The Color of Money (1986)

Cocktail (1988)

Rain Man (1988)

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Days of Thunder (1990)

Far and Away (1992)

A Few Good Men (1992)