Could you cut him some slack in War of the Worlds(2005) and Born on the 4th of July(1989)?
WOTW was as scary as all get-out and he was a convincing regular guy.
And July made me stop and think properly about the guys who couldn't (and didn't) dodge the draft (like one of my tutors at university). Late-flourishing shame, if you will, 10 years after I went to university.
When the UK got into Gulf War 1.
Now it's personal, when your baby brother's older friend is out there, in the sandbox, and you're hoping and praying his buddy comes home. . .
Anyway, way off topic (sorry!).
Cruise can act, but not Reacher.
I actually Agree with you are WOTW. I think Tom did a great job of acting like a "regular" guy. When he was throwing together sandwiches and all he's making is peanutbutter and his daughter tells him she's allergic....that scene was so well done. His panic and I think he got angry (been a long time since I watched it). I thought he did a good job of that whole movie...but especially that scene.
As for Jack Reacher...I wasn't thrilled with the book. When the first movie came out and I gave a description of the character from the book, my son went into great detail about how a person is made to look taller in films. It's a topic that he gets quite enthusiastic discussing....so that was nice.