Tom Cruise’s Jerk Era: How “Mission: Impossible” Laid the Groundwork for a Legend
[Engaging, punchy, click-worthy English headline]
Before he became synonymous with death-defying stunts and unwavering heroism, Tom Cruise was… well, let’s just say he specialized in playing characters who were a little rough around the edges. It’s hard to believe now, considering the image he cultivates today, but it’s true: Tom Cruise used to play jerks. Not villains, mind you, but undeniably cocky and self-assured guys who often pushed their luck just a bit too far.
The Evolution of the “Cruise Jerk”
In the 1980s and early ’90s, playing a bit of a jerk was almost fashionable, and Cruise capitalized on it to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Usually, these characters would find redemption by the end of the film, evolving into heroes. Maverick in Top Gun is a prime example, while Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man offers a more nuanced take. Sometimes, Cruise doubled down on the jerk persona (as in The Color of Money), and other times, the film simply shrugged it off (like in Risky Business). Later, he explored clever variations on this theme. In A Few Good Men, Cruise’s unwavering moral certainty is what makes him a jerk, while in Jerry Maguire, the premise revolves around a known jerk (Tom Cruise) who tries to stop being a jerk, with everyone else struggling to catch up.
This was Tom Cruise when he starred in the first [[LINK_14: Mission: Impossible]] and originated the role of Ethan Hunt. This early Ethan Hunt is almost unrecognizable compared to the self-sacrificing superhero of later films. Look at him: spiky ’90s hair, a leather jacket over an unforgivable V-neck shirt, a wicked grin, cocky quips, taunting close-up magic routines. He looks astonishingly young for someone who had already been a megastar for a decade. This is Tom Cruise in his “Jerk Era.”
5 games stuck in development hell for 10-plus years With the first three Mission: Impossible movies now streaming on Tubi, there’s never been a better time to revisit the classic that started it all.
The Seeds of Redemption
Truthfully, the character doesn’t change dramatically throughout the film. However, Mission: Impossible indelibly rewrote both Ethan Hunt’s and Tom Cruise’s mythologies, forever intertwining them. This is where the seed was planted for the “jerk” to transform into a savior. And it all happens in the first 30 minutes.
In those crucial opening moments, we are introduced to Hunt as the point man for an Impossible Mission Force team that includes Jon Voight, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emilio Estevez, and Emanuelle Béart. By the end of this masterclass in suspense from director Brian De Palma, they are all dead (or appear to be), and Cruise’s Hunt is framed as the traitor who killed them all.
Dune 3 tickets go on sale, and some ‘insiders’ can see it early The script hits every mark, elegantly introducing characters and Mission: Impossible staples like disguises and gadgets while spinning the plot and hiding key details. De Palma uses his signature visual style to bring the audience into the story, obscuring crucial information. Cruise brings his trademark intensity to a climactic scene in a restaurant where he confronts IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) after his entire team has been wiped out.
This was a genuinely shocking twist at the time, especially for a film that seemed poised to launch a new franchise with Cruise leading an all-star cast. Mission: Impossible leaves Hunt essentially alone, betrayed by everyone except Ving Rhames’ expert hacker Luther Stickell. The franchise gradually rebuilt a team around him, including Rhames, Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn, and Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust. But the more people who surrounded him, the lonelier he became. After some ill-advised romantic plots in Mission: Impossible 2, the series’ producers (including Cruise) and screenwriters settled on a formula: Hunt must begin and end every movie alone, a lone figure who emerges from the shadows to save the day, then selflessly retreats back into them.
This shift in character dynamic isn’t explicit in Mission: Impossible. The plot is driven by personal stakes: Hunt’s desire to clear his name and get revenge against the real IMF traitor. There’s no world-ending threat here, just convoluted wrangling over a computer file listing CIA assets. It’s one of the ways De Palma’s film differs from the series it spawned. While it has memorable set pieces, including Hunt’s unforgettable heist from CIA headquarters, it’s more of a spy thriller than a stunt spectacular, with a smarter, more cynical tone.
Obi-Wan Kenobi has a very zen response when it comes to Star Wars prequel haters But symbolically, Mission: Impossible perfectly set the stage for Cruise to reshape his image, and Hunt was the ideal vehicle for him to do so. After the emotional turmoil of Eyes Wide Shut, his divorce from Nicole Kidman, and his eerie mania on Oprah’s sofa, Cruise needed to recede from public life, like Hunt at the end of a movie. The irretrievable loss of those around him in Mission: Impossible’s first 30 minutes was the perfect narrative framework for that.
For both Hunt and Cruise, there would be no undoing the tragedy and betrayal of those initial 30 minutes for the next three decades. The “jerk” seeking redemption had become the lonely exceptionalist, a guy who loves his friends but can never let them get too close. He is just too special, and it’s too dangerous. He must bear the burden of saving us all on his own.
Mission: Impossible is streaming now on Tubi. Sign in to your Polygon.com account
Source: Polygon
Comments
Be the first to comment.