Tom Cruise has had an unprecedented level of success in the film industry for four decades, but the projects he’s worked on have been varied in their tone, style, and intent. Despite become a young heartthrob thanks to the success of Risky Business and Top Gun, Cruise spent the next two decades working with nearly every great director in the industry; Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, Rob Reiner, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, Neil Jordan, Brian de Palma, Cameron Crowe, and Stanley Kubrick all lined up to utilize Cruise’s star power. Cruise had been gaining the reputation of being a “great actor,” and his ambitious collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson on Magnolia could have signified his transition to all-time status. However, Cruise’s best and strangest role was a career changer until it wasn’t.
Who Does Tom Cruise Play in ‘Magnolia’?
While Anderson is now regarded as one of the industry’s finest directors, he was still an emerging talent in the 1990s with an eye for casting actors against type. Anderson’s small-scale gambling thriller Hard Eight and his epic ensemble dramedy Boogie Nights certainly indicated his ambition, but they would pale in comparison to Magnolia, a three-hour epic that follows multiple struggling characters throughout critical emotional breakthroughs within the San Fernando Valley. While each character within the mosaic is equally important and well-developed, Cruise’s role as the public speaker Frank T.J. Mackey was in many ways the heart of the film. Mackey is a selfish, aggressive bully in public, but by the end, he’s reduced to being a tearful child begging for a relationship with his father.
The role of Mackey was easily the most intimate and emotionally vulnerable performance Cruise would ever give, and it was one of the first instances since the beginning of his career where he took on a supporting role. Cruise had twice been nominated for Academy Awards before (for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, and there was a notion that he could finally win for such a dynamic role. However, Magnolia would sadly be the last in this period of experimentation for Cruise, as public controversies, backlash, and personal issues signified that he’s never done something as “out there” as Magnolia ever again.
‘Magnolia’ Saw Tom Cruise Stripped of His Charm and Charisma
Cruise is an actor that exudes confidence naturally, and even his more experimental projects require him to show a certain level of inherent charisma. Jerry Maguire, Ethan Hunt, Mitch McDeere, and even Ron Kovic all have a conviction to them that draws people to their causes. But in Magnolia, Cruise was asked to subvert that very concept entirely. While Frank certainly maintains a level of popularity among his followers, his rhetoric appeals to the worst segment of the population. Described as somewhere between a “motivational speaker” and a “pickup artist,” Frank holds “inspirational” seminars in which he encourages men to be more aggressive. In an era right before the rise of the Internet, Frank felt like a precursor to the types of toxic masculine hate groups that dominate online discourse today.
There’s clearly a great deal of self-loathing on Frank’s part, which is partially why Cruise’s performance is so dynamic. He looks inherently ridiculous as he struts around yelling vague, immature comments about female inferiority with the conviction of someone reading great prose. Based on the audiences that attend Mackey’s seminars, it appears that empty speeches tend to have an impact on unconfident, shy men who look to Mackey as a success story. Yet, it’s only after a quick look into Mackey’s personal life that he’s simply really good at hiding his trauma, as he fears that admitting to his past will shatter the reputation he’s created for himself.
The role borders on becoming an analogy for Cruise’s own life, as Cruise had always been very protective over his public image. Anderson may have either consciously or unconsciously started unpacking Cruise’s issues on the big screen, and Cruise would rarely show that type of sensitivity on screen again.
‘Magnolia’ Pushed Tom Cruise’s Limits as an Actor
Cruise had rarely taken on comedic parts, and it’s even rarer that he’s the butt of a joke. While Jerry Maguire and Risky Business required him to do a few embarrassing things on screen, they were still within the character trajectory of becoming a charming leading love interest. Comparatively, Frank is prancing around in his underwear talking about genitalia when he’s unexpectedly questioned about his heritage. After a question about his neglectful father Earl Partridge (Frank Robards) gets under his skin, Frank storms out of the room like an angry child.
It’s here where Cruise truly transcends to the best acting of his career. A struggling Frank begins to question his life’s achievements when he’s approached by Phil Pharma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a nurse taking care of his dying father. The scenes between Frank and Earl are among the most heartbreaking in all of Magnolia; both men have lived lives they deeply regret, and a burden is lifted from Frank’s chest when he realizes he’s been bottling up his anger because of his father’s abuse. Seeing Cruise break down and cry was something audiences had simply never seen before.
Tom Cruise Hasn’t Experimented in His Career Since “Magnolia’
Ironically, Magnolia was released that same year as Eyes Wide Shut, another highly personal drama that required Cruise to reflect on masculinity, self-worth, and sexuality in overt ways that may have made him self-conscious. He was getting more attention than ever for the subtext of his roles, which may have struck someone so closely in control of their public persona as a sign of distress. Cruise ended up losing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules; it would be the last time he made a serious bid at an awards race, even if some critics groups tried to push him for contention in The Last Samurai or Tropic Thunder.
Tom Cruise faced an emotional rollercoaster ride at the beginning of the 21st century when his high-profile divorces, active involvement in Scientology, media scandals, and controversial statements became bigger news items than his films. While he continued to star in great films, they were a strict return to safe blockbuster storytelling where Cruise was in his comfort zone as the super-confident, awesome action star that he seemed born to become. Magnolia may have been the last hint at how Cruise’s career could have gone in a completely different direction, and it’s a miracle that it simply exists.