Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star

Tom Cruise – actor, producer, daredevil. Having quickly emerged as the face of Hollywood in the 1980s, for the next twenty years he had an unparalleled run of box-office hits. Yet right at the peak of his success the bubble finally burst, and Cruise suffered an unexpected public image meltdown. With fans turning their back on him, his future looked in doubt. But through a single-minded commitment to entertaining audiences worldwide, he has pulled off a remarkable career revival.

The Last Movie Star traces Cruise’s career from his breakout roles in Taps and The Outsiders, through his first blockbuster Top Gun and his transformation into an action star in the Mission Impossible series. The film analyses the evolution of his on-screen persona and his performance style, his fall from grace and how he has refined his public image to prosper in an entertainment world dominated by superheroes and CGI. In a changing climate with evolving audience expectations, Cruise, now in his sixties, has re-emerged as the last of a dying breed – an actual movie star.

With contributions from the cream of US and UK film critics including Dan Jolin (Empire Magazine), Richard Roeper (The Chicago Sun-Times), Bilge Ebiri (Vulture), Scott Mendelson (The Wrap), AA Dowd (The Guardian) and many more.