‘Postcards from Rome’: the record-breaking docudrama that put Tom Cruise to shame
Many things have combined to create the mythology of Tom Cruise, who’s remained at the very top of the industry’s A-list for almost 40 years and shows no signs of giving up his spot.
The actor has his signature shit-eating grin, his status as one of the few people left in Hollywood who can open a movie based on their name alone, his unending desire to pull off the craziest stunt that would leave even the most seasoned stunt performers shaking in their boots, and, of course, the whole Scientology thing.
He’s a man, a meme, an action star, and a guy who makes a point of sending his friends the most delicious cake they’ve ever tasted on an annual basis. All of that pales in comparison to a recurring habit that’s long since transcended the barriers of being an in-joke to become perhaps the most staple part of his cinematic arsenal: running as fast as he possibly can.
If Cruise appears in a film, then there’s a 99% chance he’ll break out into a sprint. That wasn’t on the cards when he was buried under prosthetics to play tyrannical studio mogul Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, so he danced instead. For the most part, though, he’ll make sure a scene is scripted that allows him to run as fast as his heart desires.
He’s been in on the joke for a while, but given his famously competitive nature and desire to be the best at everything he does, if he was aware of a quaint Italian independent drama from 2008, he may have gone out of his way to beat it. Writer, director, and star Giulio Base’s Postcards from Rome has absolutely nothing in common with any of Cruise’s flicks other than the fact there’s lots of running. A record-breaking amount, in fact.
The story is simple: Base’s character ventures through the streets of Rome with his trusted canine companion. A Love Letter to the Italian Capital, Postcards from Rome, only runs for a little over 80 minutes, but the actor and filmmaker spend almost all of that time moving at a pace far brisker than a casual morning stroll.
A man meditating on life as he takes a sunrise jaunt through one of the most famous cities on the planet may not possess obvious record-breaking potential, but seeing as Base spends 74 minutes and ten seconds of Postcards from Rome‘s screentime at nothing less than a light jog, he set a world record for the longest time spent running by a single character in a movie.
Cruise might have done it more often, but he hasn’t done it for the most amount of time in a solitary picture, even if it would be foolish to rule him out from doing it one day.
