1.

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

image: Universal Pictures

At this point, Tom Cruise was making a killing playing cocky, macho, heart-throbby characters with chips on their shoulders.  Think Cruise’s kinda bratty, mavericky, but brilliant pilot Maverick in Top Gun; pool hustler Vincent Lauria in The Color of Money; flirty, vodka bottle-flipping bartender Brian Flanagan in Cocktail; and bitter, temperamental Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man (totally under-appreciated work here, by the way).  So, when it was announced that Tom Cruise would play a real life paralyzed Vietnam war vet-turned-anti-war activist Ron Kovic, it was natural to think that it was just another cheap ploy for a pretty boy actor to be taken as a “serious actor.” The whole ugly-it-up to get an Oscar routine was no new parlour trick. Even as a young child, I remember losing all interest in watching the film because Ron Kovic looked nothing like Maverick, and goddamnit, that’s the way I liked my Tom Cruise.  But once I watched the film, I remember it being one of the first times that I was truly glad I was wrong about an initially questionable casting choice (the first being Bruce Willis in Die Hard, for which I was also very glad I was wrong).  Cruise’s vulnerability, passion, and empathy for the man he was portraying were totally manifest on the screen, and he capably handled the role as well as any other serious actor could have.  That year, the rest of the world, and the Academy, took notice and he was awarded with his first Oscar Nomination.  That’s right, how does that gold statue taste, haters?!  

And yes, I know he didn’t win, but you get my point.