The Beloved Tom Cruise Drama That's Dominating Tubi's Charts

Our time on this planet is agonizingly brief, which, among other bummers, means that we'll leave loads of great movies unwatched. Ultimately, you've got to prioritize which filmmakers and types of films matter the most to you, while, and this is crucial, making sure you block out time to screen movies that are well out of your wheelhouse. Dive into the wilds of experimental cinema. Explore the many modes of African filmmaking. Acquaint yourself with Italian neorealism. The broader your horizons, the better you understand the lives and struggles of people in places you may never personally visit. As Roger Ebert once noted, movies are "empathy machines." Also, you might just find a new favorite filmmaker along the way (like I did with Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun via The Criterion Channel).

You should always be craving new experiences, but, let's face it, sometimes... Okay, a lot of the time you just want to watch a great movie you've already seen, one that's guaranteed to work its particular magic every single time. These are comfort food films, and they are re-watchable for a myriad of reasons. Some are rousing, while others give you a good cry. The best evoke the full range of emotions.

There's also tremendous pleasure to be found in watching a wildly magnetic movie star operate at the height of their charismatic powers. Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Denzel Washington, and the sadly retired Maggie Cheung throw off a charge like none other, even in movies that prove unworthy of their talents. Tom Cruise is another actor who's always worth watching. Mostly. Feel free to skip "The Mummy." But at his best, there are very few actors who can match his high-wattage charm. And when you plug him into a masterfully constructed film stacked with a murderer's row of acting talent, you get the kind of classic that, with one click of the remote, can make your troubles instantly vanish. So, it's not surprising to learn that one of his very best movies is tearing up Tubi's streaming charts at the moment.

Courtroom dramas are immensely satisfying when done well. When all of the elements snap into place, with a last-minute surprise witness and a shocking witness-stand confession, you might find yourself desperate to cue it up again when the credits roll. Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men" is absolutely that kind of movie.

According to FlixPatrol, Reiner's film version of Aaron Sorkin's Broadway smash-hit play is currently the third most popular movie on Tubi at the moment. This is obviously because it was just added to the streamer, and subscribers, upon seeing it recommended on the front page, impulsively clicked play because you can never say no to "A Few Good Men."

"A Few Good Men" is never less than engrossing throughout its seemingly brief 138-minute runtime. It's a joy to watch Cruise's JAG lawyer Daniel Kaffee traverse his journey from self-involved plea-bargain specialist to righteous defender of justice (and, in this case, two innocent young soldiers whose lives are about to be irrevocably ruined). To clear his clients of murder, he'll have to call the fearsome Colonel Nathan Jessup (a full-tilt Jack Nicholson) before the jury and get this tough son-of-a-b**** to confess that he gave the order that led to the death of Private William Santiago. Just recapping the plot has me itching to drop everything and throw this beauty of a film on right now.

There's so much to savor in "A Few Good Men." The dialogue is wildly quotable, the pacing is perfect, and the cast is outstanding across the board. How can you go wrong with a movie that lets Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and the gone-way-too-soon J.T. Walsh strut their brilliant stuff? You can't. And you'll watch it again and again. And every time you do, that's one classic you'll never get to watch. 138 minutes of guaranteed pleasure is worth it.