'Time of your life, huh kid?'

Tom Cruise wasn't born on the Fourth of July, but he was pretty close. Tuesday, July 3, marks Cruise's 45th birthday. And let's hope the additional year brings some additional wisdom.

Ole Tommy Boy has had a rough go of it lately, what with feuding with network anchors over psychiatry, jumping up and down on Oprah's couch, and don't even get me started about his unusual baby birthing practices. His latest Mission Impossible 3 installment suffered at the box office as legions of fans began turning on him. A whole country -- Germany -- even considered banning him from shooting there because of his beliefs in Scientology, which is considered a cult there in many circles.

As much fun as Tom is as a punching bag (karma, right?), it's sad when you remember he was once box office gold. And actually, he was more than that, because ...

All You Need to Know in Life, You Can Learn from a Tom Cruise '80s Movie:

"You have to wear clothes to work. There's a law or something." (The Outsiders, 1983)

"If the government trusts me, maybe you could." (Top Gun 1986)

"College women can smell ignorance... like dog s--t." (Risky Business, 1983)

"I think maybe the money's what's throwing you off." (The Color of Money 1986)

"Sometimes you just gotta say, 'What the f--k, make your move.' " (Risky Business, 1983)

"It seems to me that if there were any logic to our language, trust would be a four letter word. (Risky Business, 1983)

"Days get shorter and shorter, nights longer and longer, before you know it, you life is just one long night with a few comatose daylight hours." (Cocktail 1988)

"You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." (Top Gun 1986)

"All things end badly, or else they wouldn't end." (Cocktail 1988)

"All airlines have crashed at one time or another, that doesn't mean that they are not safe." (Rainman 1988)

Comments

[Jeff Fisher]

Hey Steve,

Where's the love for Days of Thunder?

[Tom lover]

Cruise still is box office gold

go on box office mojo

[Spears]

I really hated Days of Thunder (and it's not an 80s flick, right?). Nicole Kidman was awful in that one. And I just can't buy Tom as a Nascar driver.

[Johnny B. Goode]

Too bad "A Few Good Men" wasn't an '80s flick. Just about everything he said in that movie could have made the list.

[Six]

Sorry, Tom haters, but I still love the ol' Cruise missile. He's the same guy I loved in the 80s. The only thing that's changed is the political climate in this country. Tom's been a Scientologist for decades. Why is it a big deal now all of a sudden? Doesn't make any damn sense, if you think about it.

Only reason why he's been made the target of ridicule in the media is because he spoke out against the psychiatry profession. Seems like anytime someone in this country says something negative about this country, they get blacklisted. Remember Oprah and the meat industry?

Tom Cruise always seemed like the kind of guy who'd give you the shirt off his back. He seems like the kind of guy who'd never desert or screw a friend over, so I really don't care what anybody has to say about him.

So, he jumped on the couch - big deal. He was jumping because he was happy and in love. WTF is so wrong about that? I've seen both Jim Carrey and Robin Williams take apart a room. Why is everybody hating on Tom so badly? Even Brooke Shields has forgiven him. Enough is enough. This is ridiculous now.

Also, who gives a crap how he had his baby? It's surely not the first time a celebrity has had a weird birthing practice.