He's amazing in Magnolia. And in Tropic Thunder, come to that.
As for lead roles, I agree with you on Legend. Hmm. Solid in The Last Samurai (though Ken Watanabe is the best in that), good in A Few Good Men and Jerry McGuire... and better than he had any right to be in Interview with the Vampire. I still haven't seen Born on the Fourth of July, but he did win a GG for Best Actor in it.
Dang it. Y'all have forced me into this.
Tom Cruise Movies, Separated into Tiers
(Why not ranked? Because there are WAY TOO MANY OF THEM!)
Toppest Tropic Tier
Top Tier- Cruise is a Decent Actor, and in Good Movies, Y'all.
The Outsiders, Risky Business, Legend, The Color of Money, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth Of July, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Vanilla Sky, Collateral, Edge of Tomorrow
Second Tier- I like the Action Films, Iceman
Top Gun, Missions Impossible 1 - 6 (although the later installments get ... well good-ish), Minority Report, War of the Worlds, Jack Reacher, Jack Reacher 2
Honorary Cocktail Tier- If you see it, you will watch it
Third Tier- If You're Bored
Taps, All the Right Moves, Days of Thunder, Interview with a Vampire, Valkyrie, Knight and Day, Oblivion, American Made
Bottom Tier- Jump on the Couch and Shout
Endless Love, Losin' It, Far and Away, The Last Samurai (movie hasn't aged well), Lions for Lambs, Rock of Ages (although Cruise was fine), The Mummy (it actually killed a cinematic universe!)
I mean .... that's quite a body of work. If anything, I'd say the biggest disappointment is that after his 80s output, he settled into taking very few chances. But when he does (like Magnolia or Collateral) he can still knock it out of the park.
Plus Cocktail is the greatest movie of all time.