While he’s renowned for flying fighter planes and free-falling off cliffs on motorcycles, veteran action icon Tom Cruise has a medley of intriguing roles on his star-studded resume, including a (sort of) motivational speaker who makes a living off of misogyny. No, really.
But what Cruise does, he does it best, be it aviating or holding seminars on getting laid. In fact, he was so good at the latter that he gave Adam Sandler a serious fright after promising to hook him up with the film’s director.
This Tom Cruise Classic Gave Adam Sandler the Heebie Jeebies
With eleven Oscar nominations and abundant critical acclaim, Paul Thomas Anderson has joined forces with a bevy of A-listers during his tenure like Tom Cruise and Joaquin Phoenix.
Although the revered filmmaker has made several smashing hits, including Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, his ’90s classic starring Cruise is arguably Anderson’s pièce de résistance.
Written, helmed, and co-produced by the 54-year-old director, Magnolia stars the Mission: Impossible star as Frank T.J. Mackey, a character that happens to be inspired by a real-life pickup artist named Ross Jeffries. And of course, in a full Cruise fashion, he nailed the film, only he did it so well that it made Adam Sandler break a sweat (via SmartLess podcast).
After everyone’s favorite funnyman piqued Anderson’s interest, Cruise helped the industry mogul connect with Sandler. But when the comedy genius went to see Magnolia in the cinema, he was terrified he’d end up ruining the Licorice Pizza director’s project.
It [Magnolia] was sold out, and I was in the front row, and I was looking up at it, and I was fucking terrified, and I was going, ‘Oh this guy is fucking better than me. I don’t want to be in this. I’m going to ruin his movie! Holy shit!‘
Thankfully, Sandler braced himself enough to lead Punch-Drunk Love, an absurdist rom-com directed by none other than Anderson himself which showcased a different side of the 57-year-old actor as a “socially frustrated” salesman on his way to find love as opposed to his run-of-the-mill comical roles.
Punch-Drunk Love Deserves A Magnum Opus Status
It’s not just that viewers get to see Adam Sandler in a unique setting, away from the world of slapstick humor in the 2000s drama. It’s about the poetry of the film itself, the undulating flow of the narrative that unfolds against a backdrop of love and loneliness, that makes Punch-Drunk Love such a masterpiece.
While the film bombed horrendously at the box office, failing to break even, it amassed glowing reviews from critics, especially Sandler’s riveting performance as Barry Egan. Eyes Wide Shut star Todd Field deemed it “one of the great screen performances of all-time” (via Happy Sad Confused podcast | World of Reel).
“It floored me,” Field said of Punch-Drunk Love. Meanwhile, Hollywood legend Guillermo del Toro even went so far as to deem it his favorite venture of Anderson’s amongst the latter’s distinguished filmography.
Maybe this is a sign that you should go watch Punch-Drunk Love on Prime Video. Magnolia is available on Paramount+ and both films can be rented on Apple TV+.
