MovieChat Forums > Rain Man (1988) Discussion > Best Actor in a Leading Role...TOM CRUIS...

Best Actor in a Leading Role...TOM CRUISE

posted 16 years ago by jagpreet-rai
41 replies | jump to latest

How the hell did Hoffman walk away with the Oscar for this? Yes he was very good, but Cruise's character had much more pivotal and difficult scenes to pull off, which Cruise did perfectly and hence warranted an Oscar nod.

Examples of performances better than Hoffman's in Rain Man include:

De Niro in Awakenings
Di Caprio in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape
Geoffrey Rush in Shine

Shame on the Academy for not recognising the brilliance of Cruise in this film.

[–] brtsi 16 years ago

Tom Cruise held this movie together - sheesh, carried it on his back IMHO. It was the Charlie Babbit character that had the "arc." Raymond was interesting without question, but did Raymond have the range of emotion and feeling and bring the movie from point A to point B? Charlie, with all his self centered flaws, moved the story forward, created the conflict and decided on final resolution. You don't have to like Charlie, but that character was why this movie works.

[–] Smush Master 15 years ago

Tom Cruise was playing a prick. He does that every day of his life. How difficult could it have been for him to play one here?

[–] tbmarten 14 years ago

You're a hater so your opinion is tainted therefore invalid.

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[–] hnt_dnl 15 years ago

Cruise definitely deserved a nomination for Best Actor. As for those other roles you named, they were playing characters with different afflictions from Hoffman. But I don't think I'd put any of those performances AHEAD of Hoffman, definitely not DeNiro from AWAKENINGS. Rush and DiCaprio? Maybe on par or close to at least.

[–] rudeboy_murray 15 years ago

I don't like Cruise as a rule but he nailed this part - a terrific portrayal of a shallow, vapid young man gradually finding his humanity, a dry run for his career high water mark in Jerry Maguire. Certainly he was miled ahead of Hoffman's rather tiresome one-note showboating. Neither performance deserved major attention, though. Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers and John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons were better and yet were not even nominted at the Oscars; Tom Hanks gave the finest performance of his career in Big; and, best of all, Max von Sydow gave us his staggeringly good work in Pelle the Conqueror, and should have walked off with the Oscar.

[–] hnt_dnl 15 years ago

I think the biggest oversight that year was Michael Keaton for CLEAN AND SOBER.

Honorable mentions:
Kevin Costner-BULL DURHAM
Robert DeNiro-MIDNIGHT RUN

[–] rudeboy_murray 15 years ago

I have yet to see Clean and Sober. I agree that Costner gave one of his best performances in Bull Durham but thought Charles Grodin was better than De Niro in Midnight Run.

My top five would probably be

1. Max von Sydow, Pelle the Conqueror
2. Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers
3. Tom Hanks, Big
4. River Phoenix, Running on Empty (he so wasn't supporting in this!)
5. John Malkovich, Dangerous Liaisons

Runners-up include Cruise, Costner, Grodin, Jeff Bridges (Tucker: the Man and His Dream), Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning), Bruce Willis (Die Hard)

[–] hnt_dnl 15 years ago

Yeah, no way was Phoenix a supporting role. Keaton is magnificent in CLEAN AND SOBER. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

[–] sjdschool24 14 years ago

Hmmm... I don't know. I would have to say that they were equally good.

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[–] dfk12 14 years ago

When I watched Di Caprio's performancein Gilbert Grape...I was like WOW WOW WOW
When I watched Hoffman...I was like OKAY

[–] Diego_rjc 14 years ago

i'm not saying i don't like tom cruise or anything (as a matter of fact, his performance was incredible), but do you guys really, REALLY he was bettar than Hoffman? c'mon, you're talking about of the best male performances EVER.

[–] stickley85 14 years ago

You're kidding me right?