How Tom Cruise became the only actor in history to make the best and worst movie of the same year
Generally speaking, Tom Cruise hasn’t made a lot of shit movies. He’s definitely made a couple, with his disastrous take on The Mummy a particularly egregious example, but for the most part, mediocrity is about the most offensive his filmography has been.
Losin’ It was crap, and he knew it, but it did teach him an important lesson. After going through the rite of passage that seemed obligatory for any up-and-coming actor in the 1980s, making a sex comedy, he realised that if he wanted to become the star he felt he was destined to be, he had to be more selective.
That’s why he vowed never to make another fantasy flick ever again after Ridley Scott’s Legend, and that’s also why he spent the next two decades surrounding himself with Hollywood’s most influential and omnipotent auteurs, until Tom Cruise, the brand, outstripped Tom Cruise, the actor, to sway his decision-making.
If he’s desperate to win an Academy Award, which he might be, he’ll have to do a lot more real acting, instead of spending his time hurtling around at high speed and jumping from very high things. Even if he doesn’t, he’s held a somewhat unwanted distinction for almost 40 years, after he made history as the first actor in cinema history to star in the best and worst films of the same calendar year.
Impressively, if that’s even the right word, he did it in less than 24 hours. In the summer of 1988, Cocktail stunk up cinemas around the world, recouping its budget eight and a half times over at the global box office, despite becoming the worst-reviewed movie Cruise has ever made, a benchmark that’s still never been bettered.
Roger Donaldson’s woeful comedy earned the leading man his first Razzie nomination for ‘Worst Actor’, with Cocktail claiming the prizes for ‘Worst Picture’ and ‘Worst Screenplay’. The very same day, Cruise’s fortunes experienced a complete 180 when the Academy Awards took place, etching his name into the history books forevermore after he snagged a unique accolade all for himself.
On March 29th, 1989, the same night the Razzies took place, Barry Levinson’s Rain Man scooped four Oscars for ‘Best Original Screenplay’, ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Director’, and ‘Best Picture’. He more than likely doesn’t give a shit about the Golden Raspberrys and has never paid any attention to them, but still, that made Cruise the sole name to have starred in the ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Worst Picture’ winners in the same year.
Three and a half decades later, and no pretenders to the throne have emerged. Sandra Bullock won ‘Best Actress’ and ‘Worst Actress’ in the same year for The Blind Side and All About Steve, respectively, or disrespectively, but nobody else has enjoyed the ignominy of being a cast member in a ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Worst Picture’ winner to be released within months of each other.
Cruise may not be self-aware or attuned with the real world enough to even realise it, but as far as everyone else is concerned, he’s a genuine history-maker.
