MovieChat Forums > War of the Worlds (2005) Discussion > Hard to buy Cruise as an everyman

Hard to buy Cruise as an everyman

posted 6 years ago by Saenzwa9 (492)
22 replies | jump to latest

Just couldn't take him serious as a blue collar dockworker living with his family in a working class New Jersey neighborhood. Oh yea and a minivan to boot, that was a nice touch. More than likely his pampered ass was chauffeured to the set from his private suite at some 5 star Manhattan hotel and he just threw on some jeans, a hoodie, leather jacket, and Yankees cap for good measure, then said to himself "Ok I'm just a working class Jersey guy now" In fact the scene where he's at the Brooklyn docks strutting past the cargo containers with a big silly smile on his face made me spit my drink out and fall to floor in laughter. Sorry Tom not buying it lol!

I'm so sure you'll just happen to find him in some local Irish bar cheering on the Yankees while chugging beers with the union workers, and shooting the breeze with the common folk. Chances are the egomaniac was chauffeured right away back to Manhattan with all his suck up Scientology cronies where they dined on caviar and lobster while laughing about how great it was to be out of the Jersey shithole

[–] TMC-4 (20185) 4 years ago

Would Tom Hanks have been a better choice than Tom Cruise if the intent was having an average guy rather than an action hero?

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/27047832-war-of-the-worlds-2005-

[–] Saenzwa9 (492) 4 years ago

I would've taken Hanks over Cruise any day of the week

[–] bozo_500 (13151) 4 years ago

Hanks in WOTW. Cruise in the Terminal lol

[–] jewoogle (2269) 4 years ago

hanks is even worse than cruise

[–] BourbonKing (5778) 4 years ago

The last time I enjoyed Cruise playing a regular, fallible person was in Collateral. Even though his character in that was kick ass, and dangerous he wasn't Ethan Hunt or Jack Reacher, or any of those other "man on a mission while solving a mystery and gets the girl in the end" type of roles that he's been doing nothing but all these years since 2004.

[–] Etherdave (175) 3 years ago

The delineation of his character is just not very well-detailed here; Cruise has played far too many more capable characters since his days as a working class football-playing high-schooler, but the single scene played out as a Jersey crane operator is all we get to register him as a guy who knows one thing in this world... and it ain't parenting or holding a marriage with Miranda Otto together. Seen in this light I, too, had difficulty seeing blue-collar Ray beneath the whiny, hoppin'-on-the-couch-with-Oprah Cruise. But I try not to let what these people do in their down-time keep me from viewing a film. They earn pretty much according to what they contribute. That includes entertaining a lot of people who identify as 'working class'.

[–] millsey72 (10383) 3 years ago

Why not? Tom Cruise is rich I guess compared to the average person but its not like he is one of these ridiculous rich athletes like NFL QBs today are. I can see Tom Cruise owning a minivan in real life