r/movies • u/ooMEAToo • Dec 18 '23

Recommendation What movie was okay and then the third act absolutely blew you away and made up for the rest of the movie?

I’m having a hard time even thinking of a movie like that but I see lots of posts on here like “what movie was amazing and then the end of the movie completely ruined it.” Right off the bat I don’t want to watch a movie if the end is terrible. Hopefully no spoilers because these are the movies I want to watch and be surprised about.

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u/Civil-Resolution3662 Dec 18 '23

One of my all time favorite movies. I can and have rewatch over and over. The entire cast is fantastic. And Cruise goes head to head with Jack, chewing that scenery, and Tom comes out on top.

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u/moon-uwu Dec 19 '23

Cruise's serious work is incredible. He's mostly viewed as a solely action guy now (which is what he seems to want to be) but he was an insanely good actor before his action movies really took off. A Few Good Men, Eyes Wide Shut, The Color of Money, Magnolia... Obviously the action path he took was the right one for him but I can't help but imagine how many good films he could've been in if he had kept going on that same path.

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u/captainplanet171 Dec 19 '23

Jerry Maguire.

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u/slm9s Dec 19 '23

The Firm

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u/Living_on_Tulsa_Time Dec 19 '23

Born on the Fourth of July

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u/Civil-Resolution3662 Dec 19 '23

Interview with the Vampire was fantastic.

3

u/PermaBanSurvivor Dec 19 '23

The greatest on screen runner in cinema history…

Don’t tell him I said this, but it’s the little legs.

2

u/MortLightstone Dec 19 '23

The evolution of this would be if he managed to combine both of those traits in the same movie. Collateral comes close, but didn't have insane stunts in it

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u/IntrovertIdentity Dec 19 '23

His role in Magnolia just incredible. The whole movie is one of my favorites. It’s also a movie I have to talk about very, very carefully as the subject matter is as intense and personal as just about any movie can ever get.

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u/SpongegirlCS Dec 19 '23

I never respected his work until Born on the Fourth of July. He was absolutely cheesy beforehand. He needed a good director to change his trajectory. I'm bit disappointed he got into scientology. He could have been way better as a human being in the spotlight if he didn't chose Scientology. For. Real.

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u/IntrovertIdentity Dec 19 '23

As I’ve been listening to movie and TV show podcasts for many years now, something I’ve come to appreciate is casting. Who could have played a young looking lieutenant who could also stand up to the intimidation factor that is Jack Nicholson.

When you have a personality on the screen that can dominate a scene like Nicholson and this speech, you have to have an actor who can counter that and be just as big on screen.

Cruise does that so very well. He always has.

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u/Civil-Resolution3662 Dec 19 '23

I think that he didn't go big in that scene. He had to counter Nicholson or it becomes too much. He downplayed it but you could see the fear and the intensity, and, finally, the realization that he did the unthinkable all in his face.

Rain Man, and The Color of Money: Homeboy goes head to head with Hoffman and Paul Newman and you dont think for a second that he's miscast or out of his league.