cruise's best performance

Rating: 9/10 (27 November 2002)

This is Tom Cruise's best performance in a serious film. Cruise is good in everything, but I just wish he would take on Tom Hanks-like Oscar-type roles more often. This was one time he did. Powerful movie, kind of a more serious Forrest Gump, actually. Both movies are great, but I suspect those that found Forrest Gump too silly would like this better. The material is necessarily heavy in spots, but the story is inspiring and true. It is nice to be reminded that no matter how bad our lives get, we can make them better if we work to defeat our demons and keep going. This movie, among other things, reminds us of that.