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Watching "The Firm," I realized that law firms have replaced Army platoons as Hollywood's favorite microcosm. The new law thrillers have the same ingredients as those dependable old World War II action films: various ethnic and personality types who fight with each other when they're not fighting the enemy. The law movies have one considerable advantage: the female characters participate fully in all the action, instead of just staying home and writing letters to the front.

In "The Firm," a labyrinthine 153-minute film by Sydney Pollack , Tom Cruise plays Mitch McDeere, a poor boy who is ashamed of his humble origins now that he has graduated from Harvard Law fifth in his class. He gets offers from the top law firms in New York and Chicago, but finally settles on a smaller firm headquartered in Memphis. His decision is salary-driven; he sees money as security, although later in the film he is unable to say how rich he'd have to be to feel really secure.

Mitch moves to Memphis with his wife, Abby ( Jeanne Tripplehorn , the peculiar psychiatrist in " Basic Instinct "). They are provided with a house and a shiny new Mercedes - both bugged, as it turns out. And gradually McDeere begins to realize his new law firm is in league with the devil. An FBI man spills the beans: only a quarter of the clients are above-board, and the rest are thieves, scoundrels and money-launderers, with the firm's partners acting as bagmen shipping the money to offshore banks.

Some movies about the law oversimplify the legal aspects.

This one milks them for all they're worth. Without revealing too much of the plot, I can say that McDeere is eventually being blackmailed simultaneously by both the FBI and the firm's security chief (kindly old Wilford Brimley , very effective in a rare outing as a villain).

To save himself, he has to use both brain and muscle, outrunning killers and outthinking lawyers, to save both his life and his license to practice law.

The story is fairly clear in its general outlines, but sometimes baffling on the specifics. Based on the novel by John Grisham , as adapted by three of the most expensive screenwriters in the business ( David Rabe , Robert Towne and David Rayfiel ), "The Firm" takes 2 1/2 hours to find its way through a moral and legal maze. By the end, despite McDeere's breathless explanations during phone calls in the middle of a chase sequence, I was fairly confused about his strategy. But I didn't care, since the form of the movie was effective even when the details were vague.

Sydney Pollack, the director, likes to make long, ambitious movies ("Out Of Africa," "Havana") and he's comfortable working with familiar stars; he uses them as character-building shorthand. One glimpse of Hal Holbrook as the head of the Firm, for example, and we know it's a shady outfit. Holbrook almost always plays the seemingly respectable man with dark secrets. One look at Gene Hackman , as the law partner who becomes Cruise's mentor, and we know he's a flawed but fundamentally decent man, because he always is. One look at Cruise and we feel comfortable, because he embodies sincerity. He is also, in many of his roles, just a little slow to catch on; his characters seem to trust people too easily, and so it's convincing when he swallows the Firm's pitches and pep talks.

The movie is virtually an anthology of good small character performances. Ed Harris , sinister with a shaved head, needs only a couple of brief scenes to convincingly explain the FBI's case against the Firm - and to reveal its cheerful willingness to subject a potential witness to unendurable pressure. Another effective performance is by David Strathairn , as the brother McDeere hasn't told the Firm about, because he's doing time for manslaughter.

Strathairn is emerging as one of the most interesting character actors around (he was the slow-witted movie usher in " Lost In Yonkers ," and the local boy who came courting in " Passion Fish ").

There are also colorful performances by Gary Busey , as a fast-talking private eye, and by Holly Hunter , as his loyal secretary who witnesses a murder and then becomes McDeere's courageous partner.

The large gallery of characters makes "The Firm" into a convincing canvas; there are enough believable people here to give McDeere a convincing world to occupy. And Pollack is patient with his material. He'll let a scene play until the point is made a little more deeply. That allows an actor like Hackman to be surprisingly effective in scenes where he subtly establishes that, despite everything, he has a good heart. A late, tricky scene between Hackman and Tripplehorn is like a master class in acting.

The parts of "The Firm" are probably better than the whole, however. The movie lacks overall clarity, and in the last half-hour audiences are likely to be confused over what's happening, and why.

As I said, that didn't bother me overmuch, once I realized the movie would work even if I didn't always follow it. But with a screenplay that developed the story more clearly, this might have been a superior movie, instead of just a good one with some fine performances.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Firm (1993)

Rated R For Language and Violence

153 minutes

Tom Cruise as Mitch McDeere

Jeanne Tripplehorn as Abby McDeere

Gene Hackman as Avery Tolar

Hal Holbrook as Oliver Lamber

Directed by

• Sydney Pollack
• Robert Towne
• David Rayfiel
• John Grisham

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Watch The Firm with a subscription on Paramount+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

The Firm is a big studio thriller that amusingly tears apart the last of 1980s boardroom culture and the false securities it represented.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Sydney Pollack

Mitch McDeere

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Abby McDeere

Gene Hackman

Avery Tolar

Holly Hunter

Tammy Hemphill

Wayne Tarrance

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Common sense media reviewers.

Grisham thriller has lots of twists, turns but is overlong.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

There's considerable lying, manipulating, spyi

A lot of off-screen violence: talk of two lawyers

Mitch makes out with his wife, talks about cooking

Considerable salty language, including "son o

We see quite a few Mercedes, and there's menti

Several characters drink to the point of being dru

Parents need to know that this thriller based on a John Grisham novel contains considerable discussion of violence, corruption, and sexism. Women are treated as objects to either have affairs with or to bear their husbands' children. Mitch cheats on his wife. Several characters die, three of them on-screen and two…

Positive Messages

There's considerable lying, manipulating, spying, blackmail, and terrorizing. One man talks about raping a girl, saying, "It was just statutory rape." Another man refers to the only female lawyer in the firm as "affirmative action on stilts."

Violence & Scariness

A lot of off-screen violence: talk of two lawyers being killed on a boat that inexplicably explodes, talk of suicide and death. Some thugs repeatedly wound a man by shooting off a part of his ear and then grazing his shoulder before killing him on screen. Mitch kills one man by dropping heavy weights on him and beats another man to death.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Mitch makes out with his wife, talks about cooking food naked, and has sex with another woman on a beach. Nothing graphic is shown other than some finger sucking and the unbuttoning of clothes. Avery flirts with and tries to seduce Abby.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Considerable salty language, including "son of a bitch," "hell," "f--k," "motherf--ker," "c--ksucker," and "s--t."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

We see quite a few Mercedes, and there's mention of Red Stripe beer and Hilton hotels.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Several characters drink to the point of being drunk. Avery drinks so much he passes out. Lamar drinks beer and smokes after he realizes that his coworkers have been killed. Abby drinks when she's unhappy with her husband.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this thriller based on a John Grisham novel contains considerable discussion of violence, corruption, and sexism. Women are treated as objects to either have affairs with or to bear their husbands' children. Mitch cheats on his wife. Several characters die, three of them on-screen and two of them by the supposed good-guy. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (9)

Based on 1 parent review

The firm rating

What's the story.

Tom Cruise is Mitch McDeere, a poor kid who grew up to graduate from Harvard Law School as one of the top five students. He's a whiz, but he's worked for everything he's got and he never got over his mom living in a trailer park. So when Bandini Lambert and Locke, a small Memphis law firm, offer him a huge salary, a house, a car and, most importantly, a sense of family, he moves his life, and his wife, Abby ( Jeanne Tripplehorn , who looks oddly similar to Katherine Heigl in this film) to the south. There, he discovers that, like a quiet suburban neighborhood, all is not what it appears. But can he get himself and Abby out before it destroys his life, his career, and his family -- and before he loses his life?

Is It Any Good?

Like all good dime-store thrillers, The Firm keeps you guessing and moves the plot along quickly through its many twists and turns. Still, that's not enough to make up for the indulgent length (2 1/2 hours) and one-dimensional characters. That is, except for slimy mentor Avery ( Gene Hackman ), who is conniving, scared, remorseful and libidinous all at once. He's fun to watch and the movie's only comic relief.

Don't expect the Hitchcock-level suspense The Firm clearly aims for. It twists and turns successfully, but the running time is tiring and the plot still sticks to a formula. You know Cruise's character will survive. The only question is How? Unlike thrillers like The Bourne Identity and its sequels, The Firm is predictable.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the importance of wealth. Do you believe, like Mitch, that there's not enough money to feel rich? How important is having things and money to you? What would you do to get it?

In classic literature, the character Faust makes his deal with the devil. Can you think of other movies or books where characters do the same thing?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 22, 1993
• On DVD or streaming : May 23, 2000
• Cast : Gene Hackman , Jeanne Tripplehorn , Tom Cruise
• Director : Sydney Pollack
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 154 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and some violence
• Last updated : February 11, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Cast & Crew

Mitch McDeere

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Abby McDeere

Gene Hackman

Avery Tolar

Holly Hunter

Tammy Hemphill

Wayne Tarrance

Grisham thriller has lots of twists, turns but is overlong.

• Average 6.2

Information

© 1993 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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Defense Attorney Mitch McDeere is targeted for execution by the Chicago Mob in retaliation for bringing down a profitable Mob-operated Memphis law firm ten years earlier. Defense Attorney Mitch McDeere is targeted for execution by the Chicago Mob in retaliation for bringing down a profitable Mob-operated Memphis law firm ten years earlier. Defense Attorney Mitch McDeere is targeted for execution by the Chicago Mob in retaliation for bringing down a profitable Mob-operated Memphis law firm ten years earlier.

• Lukas Reiter
• Callum Keith Rennie
• Molly Parker
• 55 User reviews
• 8 Critic reviews
• 11 nominations

Episodes 22

• Mitch McDeere

• Ray McDeere

• Abby McDeere

• Claire McDeere

• Andrew Palmer

• Federal Marshall Louis Coleman

• Kevin Stack

• Joey Morolto Jr.

• Martin Moxon

• Dianne Ruckeyser

• Special Agent Tarrance

• Dimitry Portnoy
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The series ended being cancelled after only one season. The show concluded with a cliffhanger ending.
• Connections Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.66 (2012)

User reviews 55

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• January 8, 2012 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Entertainment One
• Sony Pictures Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour
• Dolby Digital

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Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, sydney pollack, jeanne tripplehorn, gene hackman, holly hunter, technical specs.

Tom Cruise learns that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is, when he accepts an excessively lucrative offer from a Memphis firm after graduating from Harvard Law. In this thriller from director Sydney Pollack, based on the bestselling novel by John Grisham, Cruise's ambitious character Mitch McDeere discovers that the firm's prosperity is a direct result of its mob ties. When the murders and seductions pile up, Mitch must get to the truth and get out alive. Also starring Oscar winner Gene Hackman, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Paul Sorvino, and Ed Harris.

David Strathairn

Hal holbrook, steven hill.

Wilford Brimley

Bart whiteman, richard r ranta.

Terri Welles

Jeffrey ford, karina lombard, paul sorvino, jimmy lackie, margo martindale, tommy cresswell, william j parham, levi frazier jr., david a kimball, susan elliot, ollie nightingale, jonathan e kaplan, mark johnson, jerry weintraub, brian casey, jerry chipman, james white, victor nelson, clinton smith, joe viterelli, terry kinney, william r booth, chris schadrack, michael d allen, debbie turner, lannie mcmillan quartet, rebecca glenn, little jimmy king, teenie hodges, frank crawford, jerry hardin, erin branham, paul calderon, dean norris, tommy matthews, david dwyer, barbara garrick, afemo omilami, sullivan walker, deborah thomas, jeane aufdenberg, janie paris, joey anderson, ed connelly, greg goossen, david l abell, stephanie antosca, andy armstrong, brian armstrong, joyce arrastia, david beadle, jennifer blair, steve bowerman, bill bradford, randy bricker, sharleen bright, david brink, brooke brooks, charles brown, robert bruce, lauren buckley, david l butler, gerry byrne, debbie charboneau, marjorie chodorov, cathleen clarke, drew clarke, ann cockerton, lucy coldsnow-smith, carla corwin, john craigmile, eric davidson, richard davis, kim davis-wagner, andrew j. day, richard dean, mathilde decagny, michael dellheim, michael dick, lindsay doran, michael doven, francois duhamel, mary kate edmonstone, bruce ericksen, jenny evans, mark fabert, william farley, james c. feng, scott ferguson, carmen flores de tanis, jessica gallavan, michael gastaldo, thomas gilbert, claudia gilligan-ivanjack, john grisham, dave grusin, yael haffner, casey hallenbeck, barbara harris, scott harris, michael hausman, rachel heilpern, d. m. hemphill, jerry henery, a mcrae hilliard, j paul huntsman, steven husch, steven jackman, jerry jackson, chris jargo, chris jenkins, derek johansen, sunny wayne johnson, david jones, jonathan klein, robin knight, lisa knudson, larry leggett, vicki r lybrand, richard macdonald, david macmillan, elton macpherson, bobby mancuso, karen marmer, wende martin, joseph mcafee, marjorie mccown, leo mcdaniel, david mcgiffert, lee mclemore, lisa maria miller, robin l miller, dennis milliken, theresa repola mohammed, john monsour, paul murphey, myron nettinga, phill norman, ben nye jr., donna ostroff, randy ostrow, kevin patterson, jennifer portman, peggy pridemore, lyndell quiyou, david rayfiel, spencer h register, luke reichle, darin rivetti, pete romano, david rubin, scott rudin, carolann sanchez-shapiro, john r saunders, adam sawelson, matthew g sawelson, riko schatke, doug schwartz, nanette siegert, steven d spallone, fredric steinkamp, karl steinkamp, robert steinkamp, william steinkamp, daniel strol, mike thompson, robert towne, chris ubick, mark van loon, sam velasco, john g. velez, tommy walker, david weathers, ted whitfield, john willett, darryl wilson, jeanine wilson, michael t wilson, alonzo woods, frank woodward, award nominations, best original score, best supporting actress.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States on Video December 16, 1993

Released in United States Summer June 30, 1993

Meryl Streep was at one time mentioned to play a female version of the character Avery, who in the book is a womanizing male attorney.

Tom Cruise reportedly received $12,000,000 for this film.

Began shooting November 9, 1992.

Completed shooting March 20, 1993.

Rights to "The Firm" were purchased by Paramount for a reported $600,000.

Robin Wright was originally set to play Abby McDeere.

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Directed by Sydney Pollack

Power can be murder to resist.

Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company. Then, two Associates are murdered. The FBI contact him, asking him for information and suddenly his life is ruined. He has a choice - work with the FBI, or stay with the Firm. Either way he will lose his life as he knows it. Mitch figures the only way out is to follow his own plan...

Tom Cruise Jeanne Tripplehorn Gene Hackman Hal Holbrook Terry Kinney Wilford Brimley Ed Harris Holly Hunter Karina Lombard David Strathairn Gary Busey Steven Hill Tobin Bell Barbara Garrick Jerry Hardin Paul Calderon Jerry Weintraub Sullivan Walker Margo Martindale John Beal Dean Norris Lou Walker Tommy Cresswell David A. Kimball David Dwyer Afemo Omilami Clint Smith Jonathan Kaplan Paul Sorvino Show All… Joe Viterelli Janie Paris Susan Elliott Erin Branham Joey Anderson Deborah Thomas Rebecca Glenn Terri Welles Chris Schadrack Jeffrey Buckner Ford Andy Armstrong Ron Clinton Smith Julia Hayes Yvonne Sayers

Director Director

Sydney Pollack

Producers Producers

John Davis Sydney Pollack Scott Rudin

Writers Writers

David Rabe Robert Towne David Rayfiel

Original Writer Original Writer

John Grisham

Casting Casting

David Rubin Debra Zane

Editors Editors

Fredric Steinkamp William Steinkamp

Cinematography Cinematography

Assistant directors asst. directors.

David McGiffert Carla Corwin

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Lindsay Doran Michael Hausman

Lighting Lighting

Morris Flam

Production Design Production Design

Richard Macdonald

Art Direction Art Direction

John Willett James C. Feng

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Casey Hallenbeck Robin Borman-Wizan

Special Effects Special Effects

Title design title design.

Phill Norman

Stunts Stunts

Andy Armstrong Keith Campbell

Composer Composer

Dave Grusin

Sound Sound

J. Paul Huntsman John Haeny Myron Nettinga Jessica Gallavan Lucy Coldsnow-Smith Jeff Rosen Chris Jenkins Doug Hemphill

Costume Design Costume Design

Hairstyling hairstyling.

William A. Farley

Mirage Enterprises Paramount Davis Entertainment Scott Rudin Productions

Releases by Date

23 jun 1993, 18 sep 1993, 30 jun 1993, 08 jul 1993, 24 jul 1993, 10 sep 1993, 15 sep 1993, 17 sep 1993, 22 sep 1993, 23 sep 1993, 25 sep 1993, 02 oct 1993, 08 oct 1993, 13 oct 1993, 14 oct 1993, 15 oct 1993, 22 oct 1993, 29 oct 1993, 04 nov 1993, 12 nov 1993, 26 nov 1993, 03 dec 1993, 06 feb 1994, 12 aug 1994, 05 dec 2000, 07 dec 2000, 25 may 2001, 23 nov 2011, 25 jan 2012, 21 jun 2023, 20 sep 2002, 12 sep 2017, releases by country.

• Theatrical M https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/firm-2
• Theatrical 14
• Physical DVD
• Theatrical 12+
• Theatrical K-14
• Theatrical 16
• Physical Blu-Ray
• Physical 4K UHD
• Theatrical 12
• Theatrical 18
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical G

Netherlands

• Physical 16 DVD
• Physical 16 Blu ray

Philippines

• Theatrical M/12

South Korea

• Premiere San Sebastian Film Festival

Switzerland

• Premiere New York City, New York
• Theatrical R

154 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★½ 1

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Tom Cruise does gymnastics and beats the shit out of evil Wilford Brimley! A masterpiece!

Review by saffron ★★★ 3

absolutely bonkers. at one point tom cruise is just walking down the street with people and then just randomly starts doing acrobatic flips along the pavement with a random child. for a legal drama, this had some serious crackhead energy

Review by sneh ★★★ 3

so let me get this straight... tom’s character is basically tricked into joining a group of people who:

- turn out to be hiding secrets - wire tap his house and listen in on his and his wife’s conversations - kill anyone who tries to leave their group - are involved in a bunch of suspicious activity - constantly battle the government, especially the IRS - always gas him up so he stays on their side - drive his wife so crazy that she leaves 

math_lady.gif

Review by Eric Szyszka ★★★ 2

Brimley says “intimate acts, oral and whatnot.”

Review by Jamelle Bouie ★★★ 3

we stan holly hunter in this house

Review by Will Menaker ★★★½ 7

Never go to a second location with, and NEVER accept a job offer from any group of exceedingly polite, rich Southerners who want you to join their club. They are all perverts, weirdos and criminals.

Typical John Grisham narrative: most lawyers are scum, but some special, bright, young idealistic attorneys fall in love with THE LAW and are the greatest heroes of all.

Let's talk how mega-stacked the cast in this joint is: Cruise and Hackman, but then you've got movies with Ed Harris, Wilford Brimley, David Straithairn, Holly Hunter, Hal Holbrook, Tobin Bell, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gary Busey, Jerry Hardin, Dean Norris, Terry Kinney, and Paul Calderon.

Review by liam f ★★★★ 3

is it just me or does every single piece of steak in this film seem obscenely large

Review by Dakota Joaquin ★★★ 2

Tom Cruise took the method acting a little bit too far and decided to join Scientology

Review by Chris Burns ★★★ 4

Jovial scenes *jovial piano music plays*

Dramatic scenes *jovial piano music plays*

Emotional scenes *jovial piano music plays*

Review by Branson Reese 1

Maybe this is a good movie, maybe it's a bad one that's too long. That distinction is irrelevant to me and my purposes. It had been a long day and we put it on to have something mentally undemanding playing that would transport us to Normie 1993, like a more immersive version of how people play that 6 hour burning fireplace screensaver for their Christmas parties. On that single dimension it delivered with flying colors.

I liked when Tom Cruise did handsprings with a child on the street. Felt like an idea Tom Cruise came up with. I bet he's pitched a lot of ideas like that over the years and I bet a lot of them were "filmed" with the cameras not running to get him to shut up.

Review by Chris Evangelista ★★★★½ 3

God damn, I miss mid-budget thrillers aimed at adults. This rules! Everyone here (and EVERYONE is in this movie) is doing solid work, but Hackman steals the entire film.

Review by Christian Di Leo ★★★ 8

Dave Grusin just be tickling them fucking ivories!!! GAT DAMN 🎹🔥

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THE FIRM, Tom Cruise, 1993

The Firm (1993, 75%) The Firm is a big studio thriller that amusingly tears apart the last of 1980s boardroom culture and the false securities it represented.

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The 32 greatest Tom Cruise movies

F or decades, the name Tom Cruise has been synonymous with Hollywood movies. With so many classic movies under his belt, it's not hard to understand why.

Though his career has had its share of controversies, Cruise has maintained high altitude as one of Hollywood's most bankable movie stars in its history. Raised in near poverty under an abusive father, Cruise took up acting in high school after he was cut from the varsity football team when he was caught drinking beers before a game. 

After starring in his school's production of Guys and Dolls, Cruise caught the acting bug and moved away - first to New York, then to Los Angeles - to pursue a career in TV and movies. He made his movie debut in the 1981 movie Endless Love, and then had a supporting role in the film Taps. After several more small parts, he starred in Paul Brickman's Risky Business, where Cruise won over audiences everywhere with a killer lip-sync routine.

With numerous accolades and just as many controversies to his name, Tom Cruise is the definition of a Hollywood superstar whose presence alone can move mountains. With a career still going strong, we rank the 32 greatest Tom Cruise movies of all time. 

32. Oblivion (2013)

Well into his career as a top-tier Hollywood star, Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski aimed to prove that the old ways of original, star-driven spectacles could still draw audiences without attaching a known superhero IP. Enter: Oblivion. Based on Kosinski's own unpublished graphic novel (which Kosinski said was always just a pitch for a movie anyway), Tom Cruise stars as a maintenance technician in the far future who, on the brink of retirement, is drawn into the mystery of both himself and the true nature of the war that destroyed Earth. Oblivion was a modest success at the box office and drew mixed reviews from critics. But it has aged very well, being an expansive original sci-fi epic with breathtaking imagination. 

31. Knight and Day (2010)

From director James Mangold comes Knight and Day, a satirical action romp that set fire to romantic comedy conventions. Tom Cruise leads the movie as a spy on the run from the CIA who bumps into, and then whisks away, a beautiful vintage car dealer played by Cameron Diaz. (The two previously starred together in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky.) Although Knight and Day was just the first of many Hollywood rom-coms that felt obligated to double as action movies to attract a wide demographic, the movie succeeds with legitimately impressive set-pieces that violently whip Tom Cruise across the screen.

30. Tropic Thunder (2008)

Tom Cruise being unrecognizable in heavy makeup and prosthetics, all while playing a sleazy Scott Rudin-type caricature, is like only the fourth or fifth funniest thing about the R-rated comic blockbuster Tropic Thunder. In Ben Stiller's napalm-coated parody of Vietnam War films and the pampered lives of Hollywood stars, Cruise features in a minor supporting role as Les Grossman, a truly gross man and ruthless studio executive. Cruise's role was meant to be a secret, though leaked paparazzi photos and internet blogs ruined that fun by spoiling it ahead of time. Nevertheless, Cruise's sharp and venomous performance was and still is hailed by critics and audiences as one of Cruise's all-time best movie roles.

29. The Firm (1993)

In 1993, two movies were based on John Grisham novels. The first was The Pelican Brief, a legal thriller starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. The other was Sydney Pollack's The Firm, with Tom Cruise leading in an adaptation of Grisham's 1991 novel. Cruises plays a young, talented Harvard Law grad who is recruited by a prestigious Tennessee firm who specialize in mob clients. Soon enough, Cruise finds himself in the crossfire between the FBI, the mob, and his own colleagues ready to sell him out. Although The Firm is one of Cruise's more overlooked movies in his career, it makes a solid case for being one of his greatest.

28. Valkyrie (2008)

In this solid World War II thriller from Bryan Singer, Tom Cruise leads as one of several German Nazi Army officers, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who seek to enact Operation Valkyrie – a national emergency plan to take control away from Adolf Hitler. In preparation for the role, Cruise spent months devouring history books and even interviewing members of the real von Stauffenberg's family. Because von Stauffenberg had several physical disabilities including a lost left eye and a missing right hand, Cruise spent a lot of time affecting those ailments while doing things like dressing himself and writing letters. The results speak for itself, with Cruise dependably engaging as a soldier loyal to his country and not a political ideal.

27. Days of Thunder (1990)

While Tony Scott's Days of Thunder was criticized during its 1990 release as a derivative copycat of his own box office smash Top Gun, Days of Thunder still burns rubber like few movies can. Set in the world of professional NASCAR, Tom Cruise plays hotshot rookie driver Cole who clashes with veteran driver Rowdy (Michael Rooker). Eventually these rivals become brothers on the track, with Cole driving Rowdy's car against their common enemy, a cheat named Russ Wheeler (Cary Elwes). Even if Cruise is basically playing Maverick again, Days of Thunder easily satisfies anyone with a need for speed.

26. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

After Hong Kong director John Woo made his way to Hollywood in the '90s, the legendary action filmmaker collaborated with Tom Cruise on the first sequel to Cruise's 1995 mega-hit Mission: Impossible. The follow-up sees Cruise return as daredevil agent Ethan Hunt, who teams up with a beautiful thief (Thandiwe Newton) to secure a modified disease held by her ex-lover and rogue IMF agent (Dougray Scott). While a box office hit, Mission: Impossible 2 remains divisive among M:I aficionados, being one of the more elaborately designed and even melodramatic entries in the otherwise stone cold sober series. 

25. Legend (1985)

Mystifying but magnetic in equal measure, Legend is basically a dark Disney fairy tale through the eyes of master filmmaker Ridley Scott. Tom Cruise stars as Jack, a free-spirited forest dweller who must stop the demonic Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry in the illest devil makeup you've ever seen) from plunging a fantastical world into eternal night. Although Legend was praised for its gorgeous production design, critics complained the movie was nothing more than a pretty storybook in motion. Honestly they are kind of right, as Legend severely lacks forward movement and meaty action. Still, the movie is drop-dead gorgeous to look at, with a score by Tangerine Dream that feels otherworldly. 

24. Jack Reacher (2012)

While it's true that Lee Child's literary antihero Jack Reacher is a walking, talking slab of meat and that Tom Cruise is decidedly not that, Cruise still kills it in the role. In the first Jack Reacher movie from director Christopher McQuarrie, which adapts the ninth Reacher novel One Shot from 2005, Cruise plays the title hero, an ex-U.S. Army Major and military police investigator who is mysteriously named by a mass shooting suspect in custody. Never mind that Cruise is several shirt sizes smaller than what Reacher is supposed to be. His movie has all the muscle and swagger to make up for it. 

23. Magnolia (1999)

In Paul Thomas Anderson's celebrated (and quite long) ensemble drama inspired by the music of Aimee Mann, a number of interrelated characters look for happiness in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. While the movie features a number of actors like Jeremy Blackman, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, and John C. Reilly, a standout among them all is Tom Cruise, a misogynist motivational speaker who lectures rooms full of men how to pick up women. While Cruise's character Frank lacks humanity on paper, Cruise's performance imbues rare pathos into the role that you might find yourself pitying him instead of spitting at him. The Oscars seemingly agreed and nominated Cruise for Best Supporting Actor at the 72nd Academy Awards. In a 2015 interview on Marc Maron's WTF Podcast, Anderson revealed that the inspiration for Cruise's role was pickup artist Ross Jeffries.

22. Risky Business (1983)

You only need a pair of white socks, a white button-up shirt, and Ray-Bans to dress as one of Tom Cruise's most memorable movie characters for Halloween. In 1983, a young Tom Cruise became a movie star overnight with the release of Paul Brickman's Risky Business, which is about an overachieving high school senior who parties up with a sex worker while his parents are on vacation. Often compared to The Graduate in its timeless portrayal of promising youth indulging in self-destructive vices, Risky Business launched Tom Cruise to Hollywood stardom, and for good reason. He's simply sensational, an instant star in the making who makes it impossible to hate him while he's kicking his feet up to some old time rock 'n roll.

21. Minority Report (2002)

In Steven Spielberg's blockbuster adaptation of Philip K. Dick's sci-fi novella from 1956, Tom Cruise plays a psychic cop in the future year of 2054. While his department of "Precrime" use the power of foreknowledge to apprehend criminals before they actually commit a crime, Cruise's John Anderton winds up being accused of a crime yet to happen and races to prove his innocence. A dizzying mix of crime noir, speculative science fiction, and whodunit mysteries, Minority Report entertains as a strange hybrid of Total Recall and The Fugitive, made sublime simply because of a master like Spielberg present on directing duties. Eerily and quite fittingly, a lot of the movie's speculative future technology like multi-touch interfaces, eye scanners, and autonomous cars have come to fruition in our real world.

20. Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)

Before J.J. Abrams took on both Star Trek and Star Wars, he made his directing debut with the third Mission: Impossible installment. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, now retired from the IMF, who is forced back into action to hunt down a sinister arms dealer played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. While Mission: Impossible 3 was a hit when it opened in 2006 and considered by many much better than John Woo's previous film, Mission: Impossible 3 struggles to stand out in the shadow of other sequels like Ghost Protocol and Fallout. Still, M:I 3 is solid popcorn fare with Cruise doing what he does best.

19. The Last Samurai (2003)

Despite its awkward optics of Tom Cruise in samurai armor, The Last Samurai is a majestic period drama that teeters between prestige war epic and pulpy action movie. (When a film stages Tom Cruise in a fist fight with ninjas, you know you're dealing with something that's hard to pin down.) Directed by Edward Zwick and following in the tradition of stories like Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai sees Cruise play an American captain who bears witness to the last generation of samurai amid the Meiji Restoration of 19th century Japan. An elaborate metaphor about modernization and adaptation, The Last Samurai is one of Cruise's most dad-core movies of his career, a high-grossing blockbuster that also earned several Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, including a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination for Cruise.

18. Vanilla Sky (2001)

In Cameron Crowe's sci-fi psychological drama Vanilla Sky, itself a remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 movie Open Your Eyes, Tom Cruise stars as the playboy owner of a major publishing company in New York City who becomes disfigured in a vehicular crash caused by an obsessive lover (Cameron Diaz). In the aftermath, Cruise becomes smitten by a beautiful woman (played by Penélope Cruz) as his sense of reality starts to fracture. With a memorable plot twist and ambiguous ending, Vanilla Sky blew moviegoers away to become a massive box office hit despite being unpopular with most critics. In the years since its 2001 release, Vanilla Sky has become a must-see cult movie.

17. A Few Good Men (1992)

You can't handle the truth, but Tom Cruise can. In Rob Reiner's acclaimed film version of Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play, Cruise stars alongside other acting heavyweights like Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Kiefer Sutherland. Cruise plays a Navy lawyer who must defend two Marines accused of killing another soldier. Memorably explosive and gripping with nary a single bullet fired, A Few Good Men culminates in an iconic courtroom confrontation that reveals the difference between following orders and fighting for justice.

16. The Color of Money (1986)

You can almost feel Paul Newman hand the torch of Hollywood heartthrob to Tom Cruise in Martin Scorsese's smoky and cool 1986 picture The Color of Money. A sequel to The Hustler, Newman returns as Fast Eddie Felson, who partners with an up-and-coming pool shark (Cruise), and his tough girlfriend (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) as they play their way to an Atlantic City tournament. While The Color of Money was compared unfavorably to The Hustler at the time of its release, it has earned greater appreciation as yet another showcase of Scorsese's talent - not to mention longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker's - and the pairing of Newman and Cruise representing the changing of the guard between two generations of Hollywood.

15. Rain Man (1988)

In this acclaimed drama directed by Barry Levinson, Tom Cruise plays a selfish and arrogant Lamborghini dealer who learns, after his estranged father's death, that he has a grown autistic savant brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman, in an Oscar-winning performance). As the two embark on a cross-country roadtrip in their late father's 1949 Buick convertible, they develop a bond long past due. Rain Man was a massive critical and commercial success in 1988, and it's a movie that still holds power to thaw even the most cynical hearts.

14. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

In 2014, Doug Liman helmed a cult classic sci-fi that paired Tom Cruise with Emily Blunt, making a real movie star out of her in the process. Essentially Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers, Tom Cruise plays a public affairs military officer, Major William Cage, who is forced to the frontlines of humanity's war against a violent alien race. Somehow, Cage ends up in a time loop, forced to repeat his first day on the battlefield until he teams up with a war hero (Blunt) to break the cycle. Despite mismanaged marketing including a clunky title, Edge of Tomorrow impressed a lot of critics and performed well enough at the box office. But its high production budget meant it wasn't the heroic success it could have been. In the end, Edge of Tomorrow maintains appealing status as a muscular, one-and-done sci-fi.

13. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

With J.J. Abrams lost in the final frontier with 2009's Star Trek, the job of directing the next Mission: Impossible was accepted by Brad Bird. Previously a director of animated family movies like The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, Bird revived the Mission: Impossible series with a clear eye and sharp sense of spectacle, helming an installment that saw Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt climb the Burj Khalifa and ingeniously sneak past guards at the Kremlin. The fourth Mission: Impossible was no reboot, but it was without question a rebirth that kicked off a new era for the aging franchise.

12. War of the Worlds (2005)

In a 2005 interview with Empire magazine, Steven Spielberg said that for the first time in his movie career, he was making "an alien picture where there is no love and no attempt at communication." We don't dare correct Spielberg, but he's wrong about one thing. In his magnificent and harrowing remake of War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise plays an estranged father who tries to get his children to safely reunite with their mom (and his ex-wife) in Boston. Only love can make a father go to the extreme lengths that Cruise does in War of the Worlds, which is still one of the darkest and finely crafted movies ever by Spielberg.

11. Mission: Impossible (1995)

The original movie that lit the fuse to one of the most dominant movie franchises in Hollywood history is still a mighty sight to behold. In the first Mission: Impossible, directed by Brian De Palma, Tom Cruise makes his first appearance as Ethan Hunt, an agent for the Impossible Missions Force who tries to figure out who framed him for the murder of his team. Being an adaptation of the popular 1960s television show (which is where the franchise's iconic theme song came from), the '95 Mission: Impossible established the formula and standards for all of its subsequent sequels. Throughout the 1990s, you couldn't throw a rock without seeing a parody of the memorable "wire scene." It can still make audiences sweat even now.

10. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

In one of a handful of movies where Tom Cruise plays the antagonist, Neil Jordan's 1994 film version of Anne Rice's 1976 novel features Cruise as the sinful vampire Lestat, who bites and transforms a Louisiana plantation owner named Louis (Brad Pitt). Together the two spend hundreds of years drinking human blood, eventually adding a little girl named Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) to their circle. Moody and atmospheric, Interview with the Vampire is a mid-'90s gem that feels most effective around autumn time. While the picture mostly belongs to Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise is unavoidably handsome and haunting as a seductive vamp who can really sink his teeth into all who look at him.

9. Collateral (2004)

With an off-putting blonde dye job and a steel gray suit that never wrinkles, Tom Cruise inhabits the part of a disturbing and charismatic hitman who hires an unsuspecting L.A. cab driver (Jamie Foxx) to take him up and down the City of Angels for one violent night. Arresting and unstoppable, Collateral is a fine demonstration for both Michael Mann as a filmmaker and Cruise as an actor, the latter keenly locked in as a man so skilled at his deadly job that he seems inhuman. Collateral is simply one of the coolest movies ever made. It makes a complimentary double-bill with Mann's own Miami Vice, both being emotionally-charged neo-noir action thrillers whose digital camera lenses harness an abstract uncertainty of the new millennium.

8. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

It may be the lowest grossing entry in the Mission: Impossible series, but that doesn't mean Dead Reckoning doesn't soar. While being so late into his career, Tom Cruise proves he can still hang - or ride off cliffs - with the best of the industry in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, the first of a two-part installment. With a plot centered around Cruise's Ethan Hunt and the IMF fighting against a rogue artificial intelligence, Mission: Impossible existentially wrestles with the precipice of Hollywood cinema's imminent evolution (or extinction) as an artform. With a diverse cast of exceptionally beautiful people, including Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Pom Klementieff, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One feels like an old school action epic in spirit that executes with cutting-edge style.

7. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

In Stanley Kubrick's last movie as a director and released posthumously after his heart attack, Tom Cruise plays an affluent New York doctor who infiltrates a masked orgy hosted by a dark and secret society. And it's all because his wife, played by Cruise's then-real spouse Nicole Kidman, admitted she almost cheated on him. With loads of sexually explicit imagery that really tested the boundaries of the MPAA's R rating, Eyes Wide Shut was initially divisive among critics and audiences before earning retrospective praise as a sterling classic of the 1990s. Its reputation still precedes it, being one of the most provoking and captivating movies Kubrick ever made.

6. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

The second installment of movies that illustrate Oliver Stone's artistic interest in the Vietnam War (of which Stone himself is a veteran), Born on the Fourth of July sees Tom Cruise play an eager volunteer for the U.S. Marine Corps who changes his tune during his deployment and physical paralysis in Vietnam; returning home, he becomes a vocal anti-war activist. Revered by critics and a smash hit at the box office when it opened in December 1989, Born on the Fourth of July earned Cruise's first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Stone was initially dismissive of Cruise, finding his appearance in Top Gun "fascist." In an L.A. Times interview from 1989, Stone said he changed his mind when he thought Cruise's "golden boy" image would be interesting to see shatter. Said Stone: "I thought it was an interesting proposition: What would happen to Tom Cruise if something goes wrong?"

5. Jerry Maguire (1996)

When Tom Cruise yelled "Show me the money," audiences responded with a massive $273 million box office gross for a modest movie about a sports agent in love. In one of Cruise's all-time greatest movies, the star plays a hotshot sports agent whose crisis of conscience leads him to swing for the fences with just himself, a loyal accountant and single mother (Renée Zellweger), and a middling player for the Arizona Cardinals (Cuba Gooding Jr.). A warm time capsule of mid-'90s era professional sports and Hollywood romances, Jerry Maguire made us all learn how to say: "You complete me." Honestly, it had us at hello.

4. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

When movie theaters were struggling in the era of COVID-19, Tom Cruise flew to the skies and saved the industry for all. With $1.4 billion gross in ticket sales, Cruise's return to the cockpits made sonic booms to keep theaters open, all while delivering an effective and emotional story about legacy and personal limits. Set over 35 years after the original Top Gun, Cruise's "Maverick" is assigned to oversee Top Gun at NAS North Island, where he must train a new generation of students for a very dangerous mission. As close to dying and seeing heaven as cinema can get, Top Gun: Maverick takes all our breaths away.

3. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

When Tom Cruise hung on to the side of a moving airplane in the first 10 minutes of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, we knew instantly this is a sequel that was built different. In the first of several M:I films helmed by Christopher McQuarrie, the IMF reunite after their disbandment to fight The Syndicate, an international black ops group made up of rogue agents from around the world. Not only is Rogue Nation just a fist-pumping great time, it also introduces franchise favorite Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, a disavowed MI6 agent working undercover. 2015 was a crowded year for tent poles, with blockbusters like Mad Max: Fury Road, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens all vying for attention. Rogue Nation didn't sell the most tickets, but there's no arguing it wasn't one of the year's best.

2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) 

Man, even just its trailer can get the adrenaline going. In Christopher McQuarrie's second Mission: Impossible film, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt and the IMF race against time after a job in Berlin to obtain dangerous plutonium cores away from terrorists goes belly-up. Forced to pay for saving his team over saving the world, Ethan must stop a terrorist mastermind, played by Sean Harris, from blowing everything up. Among the people standing in his way: August Walker (Henry Cavill), a muscular CIA assassin. Featuring some of the most intricately designed set-pieces in the entire franchise, Mission: Impossible – Fallout is the platonic ideal for all M:I sequels by doing one thing and one thing well: Letting Tom Cruise run wild.

1. Top Gun (1986)

Sometimes, a movie comes along and changes everything. Top Gun, directed by Tony Scott and starring Tom Cruise, isn't just a perfect summer movie only Hollywood could deliver; it's a movie that understands what moves people, what draws them into dark rooms and casts spells to make them feel like they can fly. Set at the U.S. Navy's Fighter Weapons School - aka, Top Gun - in San Diego, the movie stars Cruise as a young pilot who sets out to prove himself among the best of the best. While critics in 1986 didn't heap universal and unanimous praise on Top Gun, the movie soared to become one of the biggest commercial hits of all time. Mirroring its own story, Top Gun permanently cemented Tom Cruise's status as a Hollywood titan. At the time Cruise was a rising talent, but through Top Gun, he brandished a killer smile and scorching charisma that made him find his place among the stars.