4. Tom Cruise - Collateral
Scientology! Still with me? Haven't run away at the mere mention of the word? Good, then let's continue, because it should have nothing to do with anything. I feel I should mention it since it's helped to give Tom Cruise a pretty bad rap these last few years; his devotion to the infamous space religion gained years worth of ink and helped put a taint on a very talented actor, not that it's really hurt his career from what I can see. Still, no one should care about that junk. Cruise has put out some classic movies during his time in the business of show, and he's been the hero in most of them. I am not ashamed to say that I am a fan of Tom Cruise; I loved Top Gun even though the volleyball scene makes me uncomfortable for reasons I have yet to come to terms with. Minority Report is still one of my favorite movies no matter how many holes it has in the plot. His four (soon to be five) turns as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series help me find it in my heart to pardon him for Vanilla Sky (really, Tom...just...just...damn). About a year before he jumped up on Oprah's couch and showed the world his cray-cray heart, he showed us the murky depths of his thespian soul in Collateral. As cool hitman Vincent, Cruise joins up with a cabbie played by Jamie Foxx and cruises (unintentional pun) the streets of LA one night looking to use his kill-craft to give five deserving people an all-expenses paid trip to Heaven. How'd all that turn out? Well, audiences worldwide bought into the idea of Cruise as a bad guy to the tune of about $210 million, so Xenu be praised, everything turned out okay.